This week was tough. I normally have at least one training run I enjoy each week and it doesn’t feel like I’m having to force anything, but this week every session has felt like I’ve had to fight tooth and nail to get even a reasonable result.

I started the week with a chest workout followed by a mile and a half of 400m sprints. The weights has been something I’ve dodged for quite a while now. I had certain numbers in my head I presumed I could still get near even considering it had been a few years since I’d done them properly. My friend who I was training with certainly didn’t go easy on me on account of this and I spent the next few days putting shirts and coats on with considerable difficulty! The sprints were a nice default back to what I was used to but I struggled through them more than usual as my chest was dead

I returned to the gym later that evening and did 4 miles on the...

This week was a tough week and even though I hit a mid-week wall, I managed to persevere and reach the total for my plan for the week.

I started out on Monday with my usual 5.4 mile loop and felt a lot fresher during this after my rest day on Sunday. The pace was not excessive but I felt I was going reasonably fast.

The next day I tried doing 5 x 1 mile sprints which was challenging for the first 2 reps and bordering on ridiculous for the other 3. I had tried to start with my first rep at my usual 5km pace then increasing the speed by 0.5kmh for each subsequent rep. This proved to be too much for me and I had to go back down to my original pace near the end. It’s good to think I have found a threshold for these now. I like to think of myself as pretty stubborn and that I’m able to power through whatever I goals I set in terms of distance and pace but on this occasion there was...

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...

This week was a real breakthrough in terms of being able to stick to a plan when all around you is changing. I had initially planned to follow the Comrades marathon plan to the T and take Monday and Friday as my rest days. This lasted until about 8.30am on Monday morning when I decided to do my usual 5.4 mile loop before work. This felt a long way from summertime but was pleasant enough.

The following day I did the same again but got cooked in a Nike Hyperwarm thermal top as it was a lot brighter. I seem to get stung like this when overreacting to how a prior run went.

I had a sports massage on Tuesday afternoon which was very beneficial and loosened up a lot of muscles that definitely needed it.

On Wednesday I did a 6.4 mile run with my friend Paddy that was at a lot more settled pace than usual. We tend to take it in turns scattering off a few strides ahead then the other one...

This week was easily the most consistent I have had for a few months. For the last few weeks I have managed to so 1-2 runs at a decent pace and the other sessions were not really anything I’d regard as strenuous in terms of the speed I was running at.

I started the week on Tuesday with an hour of core workout finishing with a 10 minute run at just under my usual 5k pace with some decent inclines included (400m at 2-6%). Later that day I did 4 miles at a slightly slower pace but included the same tough hills lasting double the distance. It’s a good sign of progress that I’m including hills like these in training runs I’d have to do on flat a few years ago.

I did 2 runs of 7.5 miles later in the week which both felt like a faster pace than usual. I have found quite a nice extension to my 5.4 mile loop which adds in a slightly longer hill near the end but finishes with a nice 2 miles...

This week has been very diverse in terms of the range of training I have done. The start of the week was strong as I did both my core workouts and a lap of my usual 5.4 mile loop in around a 25 hour window.

The friend I have been doing the core stuff with was game for trying a quick 10 minute run at the end of the session both mornings and it was a good challenge to include alternating inclines/sprints for 2 minutes at a time.

I tried to do 5 miles at a faster pace on Thursday and managed to get around 45sec/mile faster than my usual 10km time which was satisfying. Luckily I had booked my place on the cycling class beforehand and would never have let the spot go to waste. If you think there are long waiting lists at your local GP, I’d back my gym to have longer for some of the classes!

The cycling itself was a good way to keep my HR up and increase the time spent exercising for the...

This week was the first proper week of training I’ve done towards my next race. The week following the Skiddaw race was largely uneventful apart from nearly falling off the treadmill trying to do 10 miles at my usual 10k pace.

Luckily this week I have had some life in my legs and managed to get 6 training runs in and 2 cross training sessions. I have decided to enter a race called Last One Standing which takes place in Belfast next February and consists of a 4.2 mile loop around the grounds where Castle Ward is and everyone has an hour to complete each lap. I’m aiming to do 12 laps which would be 50.4 miles but the winner could feasibly do 4x that if they make it to the maximum cutoff.

There is a plan which I’m going to use that Hal Higdon (the running coach) recommends for training towards the Comrades Marathon which takes place in South Africa each year. I’m a big fan of this race...

“ It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. ”- Theodore Roosevelt

I first came across this speech in 2007 when the Rugby World Cup was on and there was mention of it being given to the...

This week was satisfying because it posed a good challenge and I still managed to work towards a taper by running less in each session. I did the 5.4 mile loop each day from Monday - Saturday and added in some 4 milers on Wednesday - Friday. Granted my longest training run in terms of distance was only 5.4 miles but the 4 mile run I did in my other 3 sessions was a harrowing experience each time.

The woods I had done my previous long training runs in have a hill that was used as a scrambling hill track for motorbikes in the 1920s. The hill is only 200m but at it’s steepest the gradient is 1:1.5 or 67%!

When I was training for the Beauty and the Beast marathon I got quite familiar with running up this and could stay on my feet all the way up. The most laps I did on a long training run was 12 but I decided to try 6 on my first attempt since it had been a while.

I think I had...

I was happy this week with my efforts for each run and the pace I managed to sustain for most of the week.

There wasn’t any real battles like previous weeks to get through any of the sessions and the “little and often” approach I took this week payed off.

I started the week with 2 loops of 5.4 miles on Monday, one before and one after work. These were at a steady but brisk pace and set the tone for the rest of the week.

My Wednesday run was 10.8 miles and I had to make sure it was at the same pace as my running from Monday as I had a supermarket delivery coming and only arrived back from work with enough time to fit in my run before. There is something contradictory about making my running fit into such a small timeframe. I am not as relaxed when I get back and don’t seem to enjoy going round as much as when I don’t have to think about the clock.

I had another mild issue to deal...