After my race At Blyth on Sunday, my legs were sore from the effort. I wasn’t having the best of races and I had to dig deep to run a decent time, my legs knew about it afterwards. Im racing again on Sunday at North Tyneside 10k, so I knew this week would have to be an easy one.
I started the week with two very easy short run’s, my legs were heavy and tired, I certainly wasn’t looking forward to my session on Tuesday. Normally on a race week Id do sessions on Tuesday and Thursday (if it’s a Sunday race) if it’s a Saturday race then Id still do a very light session on the Thursday, but this week having back to back races I was only planning on doing Tuesdays session.
I started the week with two very easy short run’s, my legs were heavy and tired, I certainly wasn’t looking forward to my session on Tuesday. Normally on a race week Id do sessions on Tuesday and Thursday (if it’s a Sunday race) if it’s a Saturday race then Id still do a very light session on the Thursday, but this week having back to back races I was only planning on doing Tuesdays session.
If Id known what the weather was going to be like I might have changed my mind!
Tuesday evenings track session was a tough one and long, not the best session to be doing in a blizzard. It was a wild night, by the end of it I was soaked through and my face was numb, but I was the lucky one, Max was there as usual with his watch timing my efforts. For those of you who don’t know Max Coleby is my coach and I feel privileged to have him help me. When I was a young lad racing in the North East, Id do my race then hang around to watch the seniors race. In those days we had some top class runners and Max was one of those guys. So to think that’s he’s there in the middle of a blizzard watching me battling through the weather makes me try harder. Considering the weather and the fact that I’d raced on Sunday the session went reasonably well.
Clare had run from home to Maiden Castle where she showered, changed then jumped in the car and drove it to the trackside, she sat there with the heater on full waiting for me to finish. I pretty much crossed the line of my last effort then jumped in the car and dashed off home for a shower. Nights like that count, it
would have been easy to put it off and trained the following night, but when you’re in a tough race, sessions like this count.
Clare had run from home to Maiden Castle where she showered, changed then jumped in the car and drove it to the trackside, she sat there with the heater on full waiting for me to finish. I pretty much crossed the line of my last effort then jumped in the car and dashed off home for a shower. Nights like that count, it
would have been easy to put it off and trained the following night, but when you’re in a tough race, sessions like this count.
Wednesday was an easy run in the morning, nice to loosen off after a tough session, legs still feeling tired, booked in for a massage tomorrow evening.
Thursday morning was beautiful, I ran into work via Quarrington Hill, Old Quarrington, Bowburn and Shincliffe. The first part of this route is off road and has amazing views. As we passed through Quarrington Hill I couldn’t help myself and went into the park and had a go on the zip wire (you’re never too old for a zip wire 7.30 in the morning).
The run to Old Quarrington from the park follows a footpath along the top of a disused quarry, unfortunately they plan to reopen it shortly so I’ll have to use an alternative, but I’ll miss the views.
Thursday morning was beautiful, I ran into work via Quarrington Hill, Old Quarrington, Bowburn and Shincliffe. The first part of this route is off road and has amazing views. As we passed through Quarrington Hill I couldn’t help myself and went into the park and had a go on the zip wire (you’re never too old for a zip wire 7.30 in the morning).
The run to Old Quarrington from the park follows a footpath along the top of a disused quarry, unfortunately they plan to reopen it shortly so I’ll have to use an alternative, but I’ll miss the views.
The run was steady, comfortable and really enjoyable, I really love runs like this, it reminds me why I run, if every run was like Tuesdays in the Blizzard I don’t think any of us would be doing much running.
I have regular massages, normally every two or three weeks. I find that any longer I just get more and more tired and it shows on my efforts. I go to see Jason Ellis for my massage, Jason is a Physio who works around Durham, I’ve been seeing him for about four years now and he knows my legs pretty well, I respond well to deep massage and he’s not scared to get stuck in. I’ve been struggling for a couple of weeks now, I had a massage last week but it was close to the race so Jason held back a bit, so tonight I told him to rip me a new pair of legs. On Thursday I came close to punching him, my legs were sore and I was starting to think I couldn’t take any more, I defiantly had a clenched fist but that didn’t put him off.
Link to facebook video (This video is for anyone that I’ve ever massaged, hope you enjoy it).
I have regular massages, normally every two or three weeks. I find that any longer I just get more and more tired and it shows on my efforts. I go to see Jason Ellis for my massage, Jason is a Physio who works around Durham, I’ve been seeing him for about four years now and he knows my legs pretty well, I respond well to deep massage and he’s not scared to get stuck in. I’ve been struggling for a couple of weeks now, I had a massage last week but it was close to the race so Jason held back a bit, so tonight I told him to rip me a new pair of legs. On Thursday I came close to punching him, my legs were sore and I was starting to think I couldn’t take any more, I defiantly had a clenched fist but that didn’t put him off.
Link to facebook video (This video is for anyone that I’ve ever massaged, hope you enjoy it).
I missed my Friday morning run but went for an easy run with Clare in the afternoon. Seeing that it was our day off and we had plenty of time we had a drive to Hardwick Hall. Hardwick Hall isn’t too far from home and is a really scenic and flat, which makes a pleasant change. I really enjoy these sort of runs, its more like active rest. We ran, chatted, chased Squirrels, got chased by Swans and took photos a great way to spend the afternoon.
So how do I feel now? Im racing tomorrow, Im well rested and I’ve had a good massage. I don’t usually know how things are going to go until I start my warm up, sometimes I get to a race and my warm up and strides are a struggle, if this happens I know it’s going to be a tough one. Other times I warm up and Im bouncing all over the place, this is what Im hoping for.