Half Training – Week Five

I’m currently in a bit of a quandary. My diary says that I have booked a ten-mile race on Sunday and given how slowly I managed to jog to Parkrun last Saturday, which was only five miles, I am not sure how it’s going to go. But then I had quite tired legs, so hopefully they may perk up a little bit by the end of this week.

This is what I’m always like before one of these races. In a state of flux. By ‘one of these races’ I mean that this is not something I’m preparing for in any specific way. It just falls along the way and might or might not tell me something about how I’m doing. If it had been a month before my Warrington Half, it might be more useful. I could have given my goal race pace a shot, and then either have to readjust my expectations or feel confident I was almost there. But it’s ten weeks out. So, what can I do in that case?

I could treat it as a catered long run, and that in itself would be a good thing as I’ve not done many runs in the double digits of late. I’m sure the adrenalin will kick in though, so I’m going to do a mini taper: I’ll do my last hard run on Wednesday morning and no weights this coming week. 

What I will try not to do (please remind me of this later) is to beat myself up about what a mountain I still have to climb for my half and think about throwing in the towel already. 

Despite my slow slog running to Parkrun, and then running Parkrun at a jog, I did have quite a productive week this week. I managed a mighty four thousand more words on my novel – remember that? I think ‘novel’ sounds a bit posher than it’s going to be. I’m hoping it will go down well as a quick and easy beach read. Whatever it is, I just need to get it done, and my deadline of August (let’s say the end of) for writing the full first draft is coming upon me a bit too quickly. I’m just over thirty thousand now. So, let’s see if I can make it thirty-five for next week.

Unfortunately, the other New Year’s Resolution has been chucked by the wayside since I cancelled my expensive gym membership a month or two back. I can use the municipal swimming baths and pay as I go or join one of them at less than half the price of what I was paying. But for the moment, I haven’t managed to build that into my weekly routine. 

It means that all my weights are done at home, with less available equipment, although there are plenty of body weight workouts that I include.

I did manage around twenty-three miles which I’m happy enough with, including hill and threshold sessions. Like I said, I’ve not done anything over ten miles for a while, in fact, since my last half on the first of June. I have in mind the idea that when I start going into double digits more regularly, I’ll drop one of my weekly speed sessions and maybe do a long run and a mid-length run at slow paces to begin with. In my reading, and podcast listening, coaches often say that you should get more race specific the closer you get to race day. So, if you’re training for a shorter distance, you should do slow long runs at the beginning, and then faster sessions later. And the opposite for the Halfs and beyond. I know I start getting really tired trying to fit every type of run into the week, so this way of thinking fits my limited abilities more. 

Week Five

Mon	Weights
Tue	Was volunteering the club handicap, so did a solo threshold effort at the five-mile route. A lot harder when you don’t see other runners at all.
Wed
Thu	A double day – hill reps in the morning (7 x 30 seconds with a walk back down), and then a club pub 10K run in the evening
Fri
Sat	An open parkrun sandwich – managed to snag a lift back home for which I was grateful
Sun	Weights – a bit later because I’m not doing weights next week
	23.3 miles total