We’ve made it to week seven and (I think) this is my first missed workout. I cut one short the week I hurt my back but this week there was no speed work. Oh well.
I knew there was a chance this would happen. I was away from Thursday to Monday having a great weekend with some brilliant friends in the Lake District, so I changed up my week and did my best.
I’ve done my long run on a Thursday for the past few weeks because I’ve known it wouldn’t work on the weekend, so I did 13.1 miles on Thursday before I left.
I’ve offered to pace some runners round Ealing Half in a few weeks at sub-2 hour pace so it was good to get a practice run in (my own goal race is Great Eastern Run). I ran my Thursday half in 1:48 comfortably and so the few hills of Ealing shouldn’t be a problem.
I did my tempo run on Tuesday on a treadmill (4 miles at goal half marathon pace) but I was supposed to round it up to 8 miles in total with some easy miles. I couldn’t face any longer on the treadmill so I hopped off and did a few miles in the park.
Over the weekend I ran six miles round Coniston in the rain on Saturdaywhile my friends did a swim race. I’m not sure who got more wet. It was lovely, but wet and I got really cold when I stopped.
Because the area is very hilly I’d planned to do some hill reps instead of a speed session, but that didn’t happen. I just ran round enjoying it.
The next day we went for a 5 mile hike that became 7 miles. There was a lot of walking up hills and back down. When we’d finished I ran 5k towards the pub to round up my running miles to just over 30 for the week. Not as many as I’d planned but my glutes hurt more from walking up hills all weekend than they have from the gym recently, so I think this week’s training has generally gone pretty well.
One of the main questions I get from runners is about missed runs and mileage: should I squeeze it in next week instead? And my answer is always NO. If you miss one run, forget it. Don’t try to play catch-up. Squeezing in too many runs next week will do you more harm than good. Just write it off and carry on.
If you can foresee things getting in the way, think about which run is more important. For me it was the tempo run and the long run that won out over the speed work. Mix things up and do what you can.
Catch up
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
Wonderful pictures Laura, and pleased you all enjoyed it xx
My mileage plummeted last week. I was in Sicily from Saturday-Thursday. I got my long run in on Friday before leaving. Travelled ALL DAY on Saturday. Sunday I spent getting my bearings, doing a lot of walking up hills and steps. Monday I woke up and my calf was tight. I did my best to rest it, went swimming in water that was like bathwater, took the cable car back up the hill. It came right enough for me to go for a run on my last morning there – and I’d finally found somewhere suitable to do a few hill reps. I didn’t have my watch on for most of the week but I certainly got a lot of walking miles in too.
After that extreme taper I ran a half marathon PB on Sunday.
Great post. Consistency is what matters.
I am jealous of all your lovely running vistas! Gorgeous.
Good luck with the training and the back. I developed back issues 3 weeks before my 2nd London marathon this year (ongoing issues) – a real bummer but now I get to do the training better and stronger! Cheers.