With the remarkable performances from Team GB at the Olympics this week, it is amazing I dragged myself away from the TV and out of the door at all to train. When I did it was heartening to see what seemed like a great deal more runners and cyclists out and about. It could be just the improved weather, but I like to think at least a handful of those extra people were Olympics-inspired. I certainly felt a lift in my running, getting a bit carried away on an ‘easy’ run, which I ran about 30s per mile faster than I should have!
I actually only added slightly to my weekly total this week (now 56 miles), but that only tells half of the story. A busy weekend where I wouldn’t be able to train meant I would have to miss a long run and a shorter run. I decided to compensate by running my long run on Friday (normally a rest day), which followed three days of hard training. Although I managed the 19 mile run quite comfortably, a knee problem I had at the turn of the year flared up a few hours after finishing. This is something I’m going to have to keep an eye on. It usually responds to a bit of rest and never gets worse, but causes some mild discomfort. My choice to substitute a rest day for the longest I had run since June was seemingly an error.
Over the coming weeks I will be experiencing even more disruption to my training, thankfully for good reason, including going to London to visit the Olympic Stadium to hopefully see Mo Farah achieve double-gold in the 5000m, amongst other things. I will be facing more decisions on whether to take risks and cram training in, or miss sessions and lose the fitness I have built up. Hopefully I will make the right choices.
Speaking of Mo Farah, as a distance runner I was absolutely ecstatic to see his phenomenal run in the 10,000m. He looked so calm an in control throughout, then blew the field away with a blistering final lap or so. Despite racing at no more than 10k, Mo runs about 120 miles per week, which would be an impressive total even for a marathon runner. In terms of half-marathons like the GNR, I have always felt far more comfortable stood on the start line knowing that I have ran further than 13.1 miles in training. Training for full-marathons has indirectly improved my half times by about 3 mins. Hopefully I can shave a few more seconds off again in September.
Over the coming weeks I will be experiencing even more disruption to my training, thankfully for good reason, including going to London to visit the Olympic Stadium to hopefully see Mo Farah achieve double-gold in the 5000m, amongst other things. I will be facing more decisions on whether to take risks and cram training in, or miss sessions and lose the fitness I have built up. Hopefully I will make the right choices.
Speaking of Mo Farah, as a distance runner I was absolutely ecstatic to see his phenomenal run in the 10,000m. He looked so calm an in control throughout, then blew the field away with a blistering final lap or so. Despite racing at no more than 10k, Mo runs about 120 miles per week, which would be an impressive total even for a marathon runner. In terms of half-marathons like the GNR, I have always felt far more comfortable stood on the start line knowing that I have ran further than 13.1 miles in training. Training for full-marathons has indirectly improved my half times by about 3 mins. Hopefully I can shave a few more seconds off again in September.