20 weeks, 44 miles and a renewed vigour for running in the rain

I started this week with a short core sesssion at the gym and 1.5 mile run on Monday morning. This was a good challenge and I felt like I was pushing myself for most of the session.

I followed this up with a 5.4 mile run in heavy rain on Tuesday. This was very atmospheric and because it was shorter than the distance I usually run, I could stay warm by going at a faster pace as well as using my arms more to ensure my upper body is moving as well.

When I am running longer distances my running style defaults to a very economical gait which focuses more on conserving energy than getting anywhere faster. This often backfires when doing short runs as I don’t feel warm enough and the weather bothers me more.

There was another runner about half way round my route who was running in a similar style to me and flailing his arms more than necessary. We exchanged overzealous waves which I enjoyed. About 300m from my flat I was encouraged to “dig in” by an old man with a Darth Vader deep voice which I found really cool!

I did 8 miles in the gym on Wednesday which was dire. I had put a lot of effort into the core stuff on Monday and my run the day before, this resulted in me adding very little gradient and pace to this session. I normally enjoy the sessions I test myself more in and this felt like I was running just to get the miles in rather than them being productive in any way.

On Thursday I did the same 5.4 mile loop as Tuesday but made the mistake of doing this around the same time schools finish. There really is no superlative that expresses how much I dislike the interaction pupils seem to think is appropriate to have with me!

On Friday morning I went running with my friend Paddy. This was at a good pace and we both had spells of leaving the other one behind. I had worn a waterproof top which was great for keeping me warm but absolutely disgusting to take off after. There was literally a pool of my sweat on the floor from doing this!

In the afternoon I did 10 miles on the stationary bike at the gym which I felt would loosen my legs up for my long run in Saturday. The first 2-3 miles of this was ridiculously slow, I have a number I keep in my head which I believe is a minimum acceptable RPM for my ability when I’m on the bike. Granted it had been a while since I had done this but I was nowhere near it for the duration of my ride!

Luckily the next morning I realised the cycling had the desired effect and felt reasonably comfortable for the first 9 of my 18 miles. On my way into the gym, I spotted someone I used to play rugby with doing sprints on the treadmill. Given how much I hate people disturbing me when I’m doing this, I didn’t let on but I was impressed with how hard he was pushing himself. There was an element of osmosis from this, which meant I tried a bit harder for the first bit.

I had a quick drink and then did the 2nd 9 miles at a slightly slower pace. The logic behind this was that I’m going to try do my 7 day schedule for next week from Monday to Friday so hoping to “keep some if my powder dry” before that

I’ve looked ahead in the Comrades 24 week schedule and after next week there will only be 3 of the remaining 18 weeks that are less than 50 miles a week. It’s been around 15 months since I’ve managed to sustain that sort of weekly mileage so will be good to see if I am still capable of this!