Weekly review (a finish to the sprint)

Very hectic last week, both in training and on the fundraising side. Firstly, in case I haven't advertised it enough already, please click here to find out about my cause...and please take a moment to donate! It took a while to set everything up, but the campaign is well under way now. Donations are already into the hundreds of pounds, but most of this is from family. Don't worry, I'll be pestering you soon enough.

Right then, what of training? I was spent after the 10 mile run the previous Sunday, so altered the weekly schedule slightly, taking swimming on Tuesday. I was feeling rather motivated, so took in a gym session in college in the evening. Same old really, quite gruelling with no obvious immediate payoff. I just trust something will be noticeable long term.

Back to the roads on Wednesday for some hill training. Never easy, but certainly needs to be done as the Birmingham route, though mostly flat, culminates with a steep incline. I'll be hoping for a strong finish and don't want to be flawed in the last mile. In my next hill session, maybe this week, I'll be extending the route to encompass an even steeper incline. Worse case scenario, I'll stop half way up, fall flat and enjoy the roll back down.

I live a 5-10 minute walk from Iffley sports ground. Therein lies a rich history. Not only has it been home to Islamic Society (ISOC) Football for 6 years, but it also contains the Roger Bannister running track. So called because it was on this track that the legend became the first man to break the 4 minute barrier for the mile. The track is a perfect setting for some interval training. Here, one runs a modest distance (400m, say) as quickly as possible, several times over, with 3-4 minutes rest in between each effort. I've tried intervals in the park, but felt I was confident enough to take to the track. Moreover, the track is free to use so I had no excuse. Perhaps not the best decision, as it exposed the biggest weakness in my game; sprinting. Months of training has paid off in so many ways, giving me endurance I never thought I'd be capable of. But sprinting remains a weakness. I was consistent, but consistently bad, with my times clustered around the 90 second mark. It's strange that my running time was around 12 minutes, yet it seemed like a much bigger effort than some of my 10k runs. Interval training is helpful in that it improves one's anaerobic threshold (much like fartlek training), but I have no real aspirations to sprint for large distances. Maybe the last half mile or so, but the focus remains on endurance, not speed. Also, I must look like an absolute tool when I sprint; I certainly feel like one, gasping for breath at every moment.

But I was after bigger fish and, despite minor injury concerns, elected for a 10 mile run on Sunday, at race pace. Having mapped out my run, I took to the streets, after stretching for a good 10-15 minutes. As race day approaches, my concerns over injury will no doubt grow. I am trying just about anything to ease the strain on my legs, like applying ice packs soon after my runs. I'm also putting in more time with the warm ups/downs, trying new stretches, but not overdoing it of course. Anyway, it was my third 10 mile run and easily my most comfortable. Also the most enjoyable; the route took me all around Oxford and particularly through the glittering city centre and up towards (the not so glittering) Summertown. I timed my splits every 2 miles so knew throughout that I was setting a decent pace. I was very consistent, slowing down only on the steeper parts, but completing each mile in around eight and a half minutes. I even managed a sprint finish, clocking up 7 minutes for the 10th mile and coming home in 1hr 24 mins, a 2 minute improvement on last week. I felt I could have ran another 3 miles if absolutely pushed, but elected to stick with the plan. At my current rate of progress, a 1hr 45min target may be realistic for the half marathon. We'll see.

Similar programme for the coming week, though I may well take on a 12 mile run on the weekend. In any case, I'll decide beforehand. I'm running 10k with David Langer (see previous post) on Thursday at 9am; my earliest run in ages. Can. Not. Wait.