Happy Bank Holiday Monday! I loved being able to have a bit of a sneaky Monday morning lie in. I think we should have more Bank Holidays. Anyway, I hope that everyone is enjoying the extra long weekend. I think the highlights of my weekend were eating, sleeping and drinking.The fifth week of my half marathon training plan – the mid schedule peak – recommended that I completed a 30 minute easy run on Monday, a 20-25 minute speed session on Thursday, a steady 50 minute run on Friday, and a longer 90 minute run at a comfortable pace on Sunday. After missing my last two longer runs I was determined to smash my 90 minute run.
So how did I find week five of my half marathon training? Did I manage to avoid injury? Did I manage to run for 50 minutes after returning home from work on Friday? Did I work out how to use my hydration vest?
Monday – 30 mins easy
Work was as entertaining as work can ever be on a Monday. It’s very much holiday season at the moment so the office is lovely and quiet; just how I like it. The lack of people at work means that the queues in the canteen at lunchtime are a lot shorter than normal. Definitely my idea of a win-win situation. Not that lunchtime is the highlight of my working day…
It felt so warm and humid on my walk home from work, I decided to delay my run until later in the evening. I got back to my room, lay on my bed and started to read a book I was recently sent to review. I headed out on my run at 20:30 and discovered that it was still fairly humid. I’d like to say that I enjoyed my run but I didn’t. Although I started at a sensible pace; an unfortunate encounter with a man walking a dog made me speed up. The final 20 minutes of the run were anything but easy.
Tuesday – Rest
My housemates very kindly woke me at 05:00 and then at 06:30. No ideal after being kept awake until gone midnight. As I couldn’t get back to sleep, I decided to get up and to head into the office early. I had so much time; I stopped off at Riverside Park and spent a couple of minutes watching the River Thames flow past me. The office was reasonably quiet again, so I had an incredibly productive (for me) day at work.I escaped the office at 17:00 and headed to The Boathouse Pub on my own. Much as I do enjoy a post work pint with my colleagues, I wanted to have a drink on my own. I must have looked like a bit of a loner clutching a pint of beer, but quite frankly, I didn’t care. I just needed some time on my own to think about recent events.
Wednesday – Relaxed run along the River Thames
When i woke up on Wednesday I was convinced it was Thursday, as you can imagine, I was gutted when I realised it was only Wednesday. I had another productive day in the office and escaped at 16:30. Wednesday should have been a rest day, but I wanted to make the most of it being light enough to run along the River Thames. I have a feeling that after work runs along the Thames will have come to an end soon. Although Wallingford feels safe, there’s no way I’d run along the Thames Path in the dark. I’m so clumsy I’d probably trip over a twig and break something.I ran at a steady pace for the first 10 minutes, it was still far too humid for my liking. Once I reached the Thames Path I made an effort to speed up. I was aiming to run for 20-25 minutes fast, but failed. I left the Thames Path, crossed over the river and found myself running along the Old Reading Road. Have you ever felt like you are miles from civilisation during a run? I was actually quite relieved when I spotted someone from my office running in the distance. I rejoined civilisation, ran back to the centre of Wallingford, stopped running, had a much needed sit down outside the local garage and used my ‘emergency’ money to buy an ice lolly.
Thursday – Rest
Thursday was so mundane I won’t bore you all to tears with the details. The highlight was my colleague bringing in some amazing cakes because it was her birthday. I thought about running after work but reminded myself that rest days the most important element of all training plans.
Friday – Rest
Most people who read my weekly training updates know my Friday routine. I left the office at 15:00 and arrived back in Four Oaks three hours later. I was meant to complete a steady 50 minute run but quite frankly, I felt so shattered, I didn’t feel like running.
Saturday – Rest
I’m a little ashamed to admit that I didn’t manage to squeeze in a 50 minute steady run. I must have turned my alarm off in my sleep as I didn’t wake up until 09:30. I spent what was left of the morning completing a few somewhat overdue ‘adulting’ tasks. I decided not to run before lunch because I felt light-headed after skipping breakfast. I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening working on my BHS conference presentation and planning some fundraising ideas including a ‘guess my official finish time’ competition.
Running in the evening wasn’t an option because I’d already arranged to meet up with a friend from school. Although the pub food was a little underwhelming, it was good to see Sarah for the first time in ages. Sarah unfortunately had to leave earlier than planned due to a poorly child, so I walked home and headed to bed at a sensible time.
Sunday – 30 mins steady
I took one look at the weather, and decided to postpone my 90 minute run until Monday morning. While we definitely needed the rain, I didn’t see any point in getting cold and wet – my running coat is in Wallingford – when the Bank Holiday meant that I had the option of running the following day.
I definitely made the right decision, as I found running for half an hour in the wind and rain quite hard, probably because I set out at a ridiculous, unsustainable pace. I’ve no idea why but I had hardly any energy and felt like I was running on empty. If the tiredness continues, I might treat myself to another Thriva test just to rule out any issues. So that’s the fifth week of my Royal Parks training not really completed; only another seven weeks to go. Although week five was slightly more successful than the previous week; I’m just a little concerned about the longer runs I missed.
Week six is described as a taper week with a mini target race. The schedule recommends completing a 10k race or time trial on Sunday. I’ve already entered the Little Aston 5 mile race so will see if I can improve the 5 mile time I ran way back in 2013. Training has got off to a good start as I completed a 90 minute long run first thing this morning. The aim is to complete a fast (?) 25 minute run tomorrow, a steady 45 minute run on Thursday and a slow 15 minute run on Saturday.
Fingers crossed I don’t get injured as I’m really looking forward to the Lichfield 10k on Sunday September 9th.
Training totals
Fundraising total
Niggleometer
Do you ever switch your training runs around or do you stick to your training plan? I’m hoping that all the changes I’ve been making don’t come back to haunt me in October.
Would you pay £5 to enter a guess the half marathon finish time competition? The prize will be a pair of AfterShokz Trekz Air headphones. Apologies for the rather random fundraising question.
Hi I'm Emma. A 44 year old Brummie who loves running. I'm a runner, medal collector, race number hoarder, and hydrologist. Join me as I try out new things and take on new running challenges.
I LOVE a beer on my own once in a while. Airport beers are one of my favorites, since most everyone is drinking alone.
I stopped on the way back from work this evening and enjoyed a peaceful pint next to the river. I wasn’t the only solo drinker, there were quite a few people enjoying a quiet beer.
Week five survived, yay!!!!
Only just! I can’t believe I’m almost halfway through my half marathon training.
Wow that is amazing!
I think the fundraising idea is a good one!
Well done on the training. Some weeks are good and some are bad. Just keep it consistent relatively and you’ll be fine. I change my runs around all the time! Life happens, or I feel crap and move things about. It happens.
Thanks Anna. I’m hoping I raise a few £££ through guess my finish time.
I think my main training concern at the moment is my lack of longer runs. I made the mistake of comparing my training in the lead up to Cambridge. I’d done a lot more mileage by the same stage.
Great job surviving week five! No injuries, yay!
I switch up my plan as needed. I just make sure I don’t do two speed session or long sessions back-to-back.
Also, I’d pay 5 pounds and participate, but not now as I’m broke :-/
Thanks D. I’ve got a couple of niggles but nothing I’d describe as an injury, yet.
I seem to be getting very good at avoiding speed sessions. I’m also useless at slowing my pace on my longer runs.
I feel your pain; I’m pretty skint at the moment. I can’t imagine I’ll sell all the spaces I’ve got on my ‘guess the time’ spreadsheet.
Well, when would you like to end this little fundraising idea? And what are the logistics?
I think I’m going to end this particular fundraising venture either when I ‘sell’ 50 squares or the day before I run the Royal Parks Half. Whichever comes first. I want to keep it simple; whoever guesses the closest to my actual official Royal Parks Half time will win the headphones. I’ve also got a couple of spot prizes. I’m in the process of adding some content to the fundraising page I’ve added to my blog.
The weather on Sunday was atrocious! It seems like a very sensible idea to postpone the run for one more day.
Thanks Maria. Sunday was a bit of a wash out. I’m hoping that the weather this Sunday is slightly better.