Good morning and happy Monday. As always, I hope that everyone who reads this had a great weekend. I also hope that Storm Dennis didn’t cause any damage where you live. My weekend had a couple of highlights; surviving Valentine’s Day and dodging Storm Dennis.

The second week of my Couch to 5k training plan looked like this.

Each interval session started with and concluded with a five-minute walk to help me warm-up and cool down. Cross training sessions comprised of half hour torture sessions on my exercise bike. I also ensured that I kept on top of my personalised strength and conditioning exercises.

Monday – 30 mins cross training

The start of the working week saw me make a rookie commuter error. I assumed that the trains wouldn’t be running due to the aftermath of Storm Ciara and worked from home. I felt like a bit of an idiot when I checked on National Rail and discovered that the trains were fine and I could have travelled to Solihull. At least I managed to have a productive day with limited distractions.

I’d love to be able to report that I’ve fallen in love with my exercise bike but I haven’t. I’m still finding peddling for 30 minutes far more challenging than running. I wonder if I’d enjoy cycling more if I bought myself a decent road bike and braved the roads (and potholes) of Four Oaks. I also have a sneaky suspicion I’d find using my exercise bike more enjoyable if I could learn to ignore the feeling that the bike is about to collapse.

Tuesday – 28 mins intervals (Run 2 mins/Walk 2 mins x 7)

I actually made it into the office, such an achievement. I had another productive day and managed to get my ‘things to do’ list looking a little less out of control. I left work at 3pm and popped into the local Co-op on the way home and brought all the ingredients I needed to make my favourite Italian oven-baked penne recipe. I only had one near-miss with my super sharp knife so I’m clearly getting better.

I wasted some time weighing up the pros and cons of running with a slightly dodgy throat and seemingly impossible to completely shift dose of the lurgy. Running won and I got changed into some running gear and headed out the door into the cold.

I completed my five-minute ‘warm-up’ fast walk which left me feeling colder than when I’d started and then embarked on what was described as run for two minutes, walk for two minutes repeat seven times. I did some quick mental arithmetic and decided to follow my usual two mile route. I figured that I wouldn’t cover much more than two miles so I’d finish the session near home. I clearly got my sums completely wrong as I ended up having to run away from home, something I always find challenging. As for my troublesome right knee, I didn’t notice it while I was running, always a good sign.

Wednesday – Rest

Thanks to a training course in Birmingham I had an incredibly restful rest day. The training course itself was really informative, one of the best I’ve completed since my PhD. I think the highlight of a slightly strange day was finding out that I’d been successful in a ballot I’d forgotten I’d entered. The news has left me with a bit of a dilemma.

Thursday – 24 mins intervals (Run 2 mins/Walk 2 mins x 6)

The morning got off to an unusual start when a motorist tried to deliberately soak me by driving through a large puddle. It’s a shame the water feature was hiding a large pothole. Starting the day with a puncture must have been quite frustrating. Work was so busy the time flew by; one minute it was lunchtime, the next it was time for me to head home. The journey back home saw me break my Birmingham Moor Street to New Street ‘sprint’ personal best only for my train to be delayed. It took me most of the 30-minute journey to recover.

I headed out on my second interval session of the week slightly later than planned. It wasn’t that cold, but I quickly discovered the pavements were a little ‘hazardous’ in places. I’ve said it before but Brooks Adrenaline trainers seem to have terrible grip the second pavements are anything but dry. I decided to slow down my pace and successfully completed the session. It was great to quickly catch up with Matt at the end of my cool-down. Matt, I’ll hopefully see you at a local parkrun soon.

Friday – Rest

My Friday morning commute ended with what I’d described as a failed attempt at some artistic photography. Here’s the photo I took of the sunrise, I think I’ll stick to hydrology. Friday was a good day as it featured a sausage bap for breakfast and fish, chips and baked beans for lunch. Yes, I’m really easily pleased and have low standards. I must remember to head into the office more often on Fridays as it was so quiet.

I may be jealous because I’m single, but the journey home made me smile as the train seemed to be full of stressed-out looking men clutching single red roses. While the same men probably had a romantic evening, I spent the majority of my evening catching up on some blogmin and working.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

My weekend got off to an uncomfortable start with a 30-minute session on my exercise bike. I really do need to invest in a better saddle. Cross training session complete, I spent a bit of time working out to use the massage gun I’d bought at the National Running Show. I also braved my foam roller for the first time in a while; hopefully, my calf muscles appreciated my attempts.

Quite frankly, the weather was terrible and in between a spot of overtime, I watched the Glasgow indoor athletics and Chicago Fire. I felt like I was wasting my Saturday, but I didn’t fancy heading out into Storm Dennis. I don’t mind running when it’s wet and windy but I’m not keen on getting cold and soaked through when I don’t need to. I had arranged to meet up with a friend in Birmingham but the weather deteriorated quite rapidly so we decided to be sensible and to postpone our Brummie drinking session. In an attempt to be organised, I checked the weather forecast before heading to bed. It looked like it would be wet, windy but quite mild, not ideal but not as bad as the Sunday before.

Sunday – 32 mins intervals (Run 2 mins/Walk 2 mins x 8)

Miraculously, it wasn’t raining when my alarm woke me at 7am and although it was windy, it was dry. I was actually a little disappointed as I do enjoy running when it’s raining, partly because I’m unfit at the moment and the rain keeps me cool, and partly because the rain tends to keep all but the most hardcore of dog walkers indoors.

I found the final interval session of the week a little harder than I expected to. For some reason, I found running into the wind far more challenging than I did last week, at times the wind was so strong I found myself struggling to breathe properly. My right knee grumbled a couple of times, a reminder that I need to find a different route for this week’s training sessions. Let’s just say I was pleased when the 32 minutes came to an end and I could escape from Storm Dennis.

I got home and spent some time working through the strength and conditioning exercises I was provided with following my detailed gait assessment. I also christened the resistance bands I bought earlier in the week and tried and quite possibly failed to complete the crab walk in squatting exercises recommended to me. I’m aware that this update has turned into yet another easy so I’ll stop waffling now!

Week 3 of my Couch to 5k training plan looks straightforward and I’m reasonably confident I’ll be able to complete all of the training sessions. I’m actually looking forward to running for three minutes at a time. It will be interesting to see how my right knee copes with the slightly longer running intervals.

Training totals

• Runs: 6
• Time: 2 hrs 36 mins
• Distance: 12.87 miles

Niggleometer

• Right knee: 3/10
• Left knee: 1/10
• Right foot: 1/10

Did you have a good weekend? I hope that the weather didn’t cause too much disruption to your weekend plans.

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