19 weeks, 71 miles, 8 training runs and a penchant for 2 a day efforts

I was quite worried at the start of this week about how the weather would affect my target mileage for the week. This was based on the ‘Beast from the East’ influx of snow and if it would result in icy roads. Running on settled snow and when it is falling doesn’t phase me, one bad fall on ice could mean a few lost weeks of training that I can’t afford to lose.

I started the week on Wednesday morning with 5.4 miles in falling snow which was quite enjoyable as I knew I was running in conditions that will most likely be worse than anything I’ll face in races this year. The amount of snow that had fallen on my head was quite impressive

I managed two laps of 7.5 miles each day for the next 3 days. My working week was luckily affected by the weather and I got to work from home on Thursday which made fitting in both efforts before and after work easier. I then headed out again before and after on Friday but did both laps in one outing yesterday morning.

A few years ago, running twice in the same day seemed a bigger deal and this week was the first time I can remember it not seeming the same. I think when I had got up to 75 miles in a week training for the Last One Standing, my injuries after were from doing too many long runs so this is a good way to get the miles in with lower risk.

I finished the week today with another 2 laps of 7.5 miles followed by a lap of my 5.4 mile route. This was the minimum I could get away with as a long training run for this week.

I had reread a Matthew Syed book earlier this week called ‘The Greatest’ which is a compilation of his articles from The Times. His writing style is very clever and he uses studies to back up his points well. I came across a quote of his about fixed and growth mindsets I like as well. Hopefully being able to sustain 70+ mile weeks will prove I have followed this in the time since 2016