A late blog for week two. That doesn’t bode well.
At least I, kind of, managed all my planned sessions during that week. I’m only on Tuesday of week three and I feel like I’m in a bit of a tizz already about fitting everything in this week.
And breathe.
I managed that breath by missing out tonight’s club run. Which by rights, should make it feel worse, but it’s amazing what a glass of wine and a sit down can sometimes do for the soul.
In any case, I’m not writing about this week yet. So, what happened last week?
Well, overall, my mileage went a bit south, being three miles lower at 24.4. I am conscious that I need to build that up again but, given that I’m doing two rounds of strength work a week and a teeny bit of swimming every now and then, I’m not stressing yet.
Regarding the strength work, the DOMs reduced a tad from the week before, so I look less like a cowboy on a colt. I’m also getting much better at disregarding other people at the gym, and I’m not making up narratives about what they think of my prowess, or lack of.
I used to, when I was new to ‘THE GYM’. My eyes would lock on to the most svelte, the most muscular, most perfect specimens in the place and deem my own self inadequate for taking up the same mildly odorous breathing space (the first gym I used didn’t have the best ventilation system).
I’ve talked to other people about this, especially as I’m now an evangelist for all women to lift heavy weights. Some women, and even some men, who do not, in their own eyes, match up to the machismo vibes emanating from the machines and the weights. It is hard to get past when you’re starting.
For me, it improved as I got older, and cared less about other people’s opinions of me. It was then that I started to realise that the range of body shapes and ages within the gym was really much wider than I’d originally thought. I can’t say that is true of all gyms. Some may indeed attract the overly narcissistic. But it’s true for the three or four I’ve used over the years. And, interestingly, I’m noticing more older women using the gym than I had seen before. So that is a good thing.
My long run was again a bit suspect in week two, given that I had a small tea break in between the first three miles and the next six. It was after Parkrun, and John, my occasional running buddy and fellow Pensby Runner, was also planning to run laps of Birkenhead Park after the Parkrun was done. Having experienced my first ultra last year, I noticed a very different mentality to regular road running. A little pause in the proceedings here and there, for a bite of a sandwich or some hot beverage, was thoroughly normal, so, for now at least, I’m going to count it as a tick.
This is my summary for week two, and it does look a bit like week one apart from the fact that I did less. I’m hoping that the speed/hill sessions and the weights will be giving me more bang for my buck.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
| 20 mins – Yoga | 70 mins – S & C | 30+ minute Parkrun | ||||
| 40 mins – treadmill intervals | 6 miles add on run. | A five and a half mile walk with friends. | ||||
| 40 mins – S & C | 20 mins – Yoga | 20 mins – Yoga | ||||
| 70 mins –not that relaxed club run | 60 mins – club run with hills |
theleadlesspencil 
Looks really good and the ultra experience certainly says the runs with little pauses fully deserve the tick. Quite apart from what it does for the soul, I think a glass of wine and a sit down is an essential part of avoiding over-training.
Well yes, the wine is just there to make sure I don’t do that!