This month so far has been slow in training terms but not in anyway lazy I should add - as I previously stipulated I was just taking it steady and building up my running - this has really paid dividends and on saturday I had a good session!
It started with a 5.55am alarm call - I had been feeling pretty ropey the two days before so it took some serious will power to get out of bed - I jumped in the car (prepacked) and headed down to Ellingham ski lake for a good swim, although it was dark and the car temperature read....2 degrees (brrrr) the sun was slowly coming up and it was laid on for a beautiful day!
When I arrived there were only two people in the hut (plus the owner) and the lake could barely be seen for the fog rising up off the warmer than air water! We gave it ten minutes and then slowly got changed and wandered down to the lake - normally you can do 1400m laps of the lake but as you couldn't see more than 25m it was all about keeping reasonably close to the Jetty and doing roughly 400m between the banks - the water was actually really quite nice at about 17/18 degrees and it was an amazing swim - at one point you were swimming in thick fog, with out being able to see any bank or buoy - this was pretty spooky but awesome at the same time!
As the sun slowly broke though the view just got better and it was by the far the best swim I've had to date! After this I drove straight up to the forest and ran 5 miles out along the main road and then 4.5 back along tracks and through woods - it was about 12 or so degrees by now and clear blue sunshine so was a perfect time! I had to stop in some woods at one point - the sun was dappling through the tree's and it was perfectly still and quiet - soaked in some of the sunshine and then finished it off - having seen only one other person out on the trails!
So a 1.2 (ish) mile swim and a 9.5 mile run was a perfect Saturday morning and I was feeling so comfortable running at that pace - so the few weeks of slower training - 5 to 7 hours have really paid dividends! I then hit the mountain bike for 45 minsutes of blasting about yesterday to blow away the cobwebs from saturday afternoon (big lunch and a beer or ten)!
I feel so much more confident with my running and am enjoying building up my long runs - next weekend will be my old 12 or so mile route which includes some ridiculous hills! I have a 1/2 marathon on the 17th October which should be good - 2 hours will be about right for my time - slow and steady!
As for cycling - well I just looked at my record and I haven't been on my road bike for 3 weeks (!) Its fine because it has allowed time to sort out my running but I am concious that the nice weekend days will have to be used for some long rides to keep my eye in! Its all about building an endurance base and cycling is fantastic for that!
Swimming has been ticking over - a few pool sessions and the odd coached session - not getting any quicker but keeping that base going!
all good - so building back up to bigger training weeks over the next few months - tis good to get the drive back!
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