Weekly Review (a tale of two cities)

Last week began like any other, a relaxed Monday following the intense 10k I'd run the previous day. I did venture into the St Anne's weights room, which was like stepping back into the middle ages. A depressing 45 minute workout in grotesque conditions and an experience I won't be repeating in a hurry.

I did some hill training on Tuesday evening. I'm fortunate in that the streets behind my flat are generally quite uphill, with flat sections to ease the load. I always thought running back down would be easy enough, but it can be difficult to control one's pace when gravity is on your side. It's tempting to go at full pelt, but given how narrow the path is I'd probably end up on the road. My weekly swimming session produced no great surprise on Wednesday, although I increased my pace and managed to overtake someone. He was around 80 years old, but they all count.

As planned, I ditched the dreaming spires of Oxford for the humble dwellings of Coventry. Home. Where the heart is. And much better food. It was a relaxed few days and a wonderful opportunity to take in a change of scenery. On Thursday I embarked on a 6 mile run at fairly steady pace. I took the route up to my former school and back, with some digressions. Literally a jog down memory lane. I always thought I lived very far from school, but nowadays 2 miles doesn't seem so far. In the same vein, walking is a frustratingly slow process.

I took advantage of our cycling machine and did around 10k on Friday. This takes a monumental effort and reinforces how weak my legs are, despite months of training. I shall address this by incorporating more cycling sessions into my schedule. Strictly indoors though, I am a hazard on the roads.

I met my oldest friend for dinner on Saturday, Virendra (thankfully shortened to V). A former basketball prodigy, he is no stranger to the rigours of physical training. Indeed, V completed the Coventry half marathon in 2007 in a decent time of 1hr 48mins. What made this even more impressive was that he'd only done 6 weeks of training, none of which incorporated intervals, fartleks or any other sophisticated routines. I guess he was already quite fit and didn't require much more effort to reach the 13 mile mark. In stark contrast, I've had to ditch the last 24 years and start from scratch.

My aim for the half marathon is primarily to finish without having to walk any of it. After this, a time of below 2 hours seems realistic. Still, I remain as competitive as ever and would like to attack V's time, just to make myself feel that little bit better. One thing at a time though, and for now I had to focus on running 10 miles on Sunday. I took a similar route to Thursday, but then headed up towards the other side of Coventry. The route was mostly undulating, with the odd steep incline. I look forward to my longer runs and in particular, for the moment where everything seems under control. I always find the first few miles tough, but there usually comes a point where I feel I can go on all day. Of course, this feeling only lasts a few more miles, but gets me through the pre-determined distance. On Sunday, that moment came at around mile 5 and I just knew I'd ease to the 10 mile mark. Now it was just a matter of how fast. My speed throughout was fairly constant. The one other time I completed 10 miles, a fortnight previous, I stuttered in the last 2 miles, bringing the time well past the 90 minute mark. This time, I speeded up slightly in the latter miles and came home in 1hr 26mins. This suggests I am well on course for the 2 hour mark. With just over 2 months to go, it's very much in my own hands. But my greatest challenge lies ahead. More on this soon.

I returned to Oxford this morning, with my left leg giving me some trouble. I think I'll ease off and do some cross training tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be ready to take to the road again on Wednesday.

I have finally entered myself for a half marathon - see the next post.