Parkrun Sandwich + Yorkshire MT – Week 4

Having felt so positive in the previous couple of weeks, I’ve had a little dip.

I don’t mean that I’m down in the doldrums. Quite the contrary, I feel pretty good, but I haven’t quite fired on all cylinders this week. Yesterday, I was wiped out from a heavy duty headache for most of the afternoon. That was after my Parkrun sandwich, on an especially warm day, when I didn’t take any water out with me.

If you remember, I attempted to do this last week, except that I got a bit lost and didn’t get to the park until about 9:20, so too late to get out with the crowds. And surprisingly, there had been a good crowd still, despite the fact that the rain hadn’t stopped all morning – over 400 people had toed the line.

This week, I took a more direct route to reduce my chance of going wrong, although I still managed to cut it fine, having left the house late in the first place. There was just short of 600 runners waiting this time, as I sprinted across the grass to reach them before they started.

I got there.

They set off.

I didn’t.

I gave myself about ten seconds to get my breath back, and to rub my left shoe frantically in the grass, trying to be rid of some dog poo I had stomped in during said sprint. Eventually I jogged out, with the back of the pack, and sniffed periodically to check if any aromas were wafting up from below.

I think I got away with it but I hadn’t got away from the very dry feeling in my throat. I hadn’t quite realised how warm it was, even though the sun was out and I was constantly mopping my brow. In truth, the belt, that had to be retired last week, is the only one I’ve got that carries a water bottle, and I couldn’t be bothered to hold one in my hand. Or buy one on the way home.

I used to get these headaches quite often after doing long runs . It starts faintly on my forehead, and then increases in pain and creates a ring around the back of my head so I can’t even lie down very easily, and I feel somewhat nauseous. But it’s the first one I’ve had in over a year because I’ve made sure (usually) to take water for anything over two hours, especially in warm weather, and more crucially, to have a salt tablet or dioralyte in that water.

So it’s all good really, as I know where I went wrong, and I won’t do it again. At least until I forget. This week was a cut-back week where I’m supposed to reduce my effort a little. I wasn’t supposed to drop the miles by quite as much as I have, but we had a couple of nice days in Stratford. Hopefully it will all balance out in the long run.

Bizarrely, while in my little dip, I decided to book myself onto another race next July. The Race to the Stones, down near Avebury. Only the 50 kilometre version, but as the 42K of the marathon still feels like a heck of a distance, this will be plenty for now. First official ‘ultra’. Scary!

In the meantime, this is my training for this week.

Day	What I Did
Mon	A small run about, as it was day two of my period. Always used to be my most painful day, but the pain has reduced massively now, possibly because of my running? Run: 4.22 miles [6.79 km] Pace: 11.20 mins/mile [6.96 mins/km]   Yoga: 30 minutes Strength: 10 minutes
Tue	Nothing – apart from the having the grandsons. Too tired to club.
Wed	Hill reps, as I didn’t make it to the club last night. 5 x Red Hill Road from the farmhouse gate, to the top. Felt hard but good. Run: 7.21 miles [11.60 km] Avg Pace: 11.35 mm [7.05 m/km]
Thu	Nothing
Fri	Yoga: 30 minutes Strength: 10 minutes
Sat	Long Slow Run – Parkrun Sandwich Run: (Roughly) 12.3 miles [19.79 km] Pace: varied, with my Parkrun average at 9.45 minutes a mile.
Sun	Yoga: 15 minutes