I definitely have man flu. Not making me feel too bad generally other than early and late when I feel totally congested. As a nod to being sensible I chose not to run today but did do a decent 25mins strength session at Fitness First at lunchtime. Think I've been inspired by listening to a lot of barbellshrugged podcasts recently and want to get back to feeling like my body is functionally strong and healthy. Did press ups, single leg squats, dead lifts and pull ups. I'm planning my training ahead a bit better again now (aiming to plan 4 weeks ahead) and I'm happy I can realistically still hit 40 miles this week with non-running days today and Saturday. It needs to start looking a bit more like marathon training at some point.
Running aside, my personal productivity was firing on all cylinders today which is always satisfying but particularly on a Monday. As I get older I can't help noticing that I take an awful lot of contentment and inner peace from the simple act of a job well done, regardless of the task. Work is good at the moment, long may that continue.
Tuesday 16th
Felt more ill this morning, totally bunged. Boo. As a result the 4.10am 'early run day' alarm punched a bit harder than it normally does. Needed my little flask of black coffee on the train then as I remain increasingly sure that I'm immune to paracetamol. Even with the caffeine, I couldn't see the '5 min' workout happening today so I replanned to switch in Thursday's longer but slower steady run. As it turned out, an hour on the tready at sub 6:30mm proved too arduous as well so I called it at 10k, sweating like a man trying to beat a cold into submission should. Coming out of the showers, I noted that I looked palid and sick. No surprise there.
Annoying to be behind the week's planned training already but another good day at work followed which softened the blow. And I feel like what I left in the tank today by not ragging myself through another 6km will pay dividends in the next couple of days training as I hopefully start to feel a bit healthier again.
Wednesday 17th
Felt like I was in a slightly desperate mood most of the day. Not a bad mood as such, more anxious. Probably a result of lots on at work, still feeling pretty ill from the cold and Finn being quite a handful at the moment. He’s taken to throwing tantrums that are so ferocious, each one basically leaves my nerves in shreds. It’s a pretty bad feeling, a toddler absolutely laying bare your insecurities around being inadequate as a parent. A totally irrational little person, simultaneously the biggest blessing and biggest challenge in my life. My rendition of ‘let it snow’ is doing a stella job of calming him at bedtime though which is a nice feeling.
As I was working from home today I got my run in late afternoon, which is a time of day when I usually feel pretty good for training. Revised plan for the week was to do a quality session today, whatever I could manage, to then give a reasonable gap before finally having a proper go at parkrun on Saturday. I was curious to see if my recent block of training had brought me on at all so I set out to do 3x 1 mile on the seafront which is normally a pretty honest view of where I am. Conditions were good, my cold didn’t notably bother me during the session and the results were good:
5:36.3 | 5:33.0 | 5:35.5 – av = 5:34.9 (2:30 rests)
I’m pretty sure that’s the fastest average I’ve ever managed for mile reps, so that definitely improved my mood for the remainder of the day. It’s reassuring that the increased emphasis on quality running seems to be bringing some improvement. That last rep was basically hammering it back from the sea front to home with a fair amount of road crossings and people dodging too. Looking forward to justified easy run tomorrow.
Thursday 18th
This was my facebook status update today:
4:10am - get up
2hr 20min commute
7.10am - Run no.1
8:30-5:30 - work
5:50pm - Run no.2
2hr 20min commute
9:05pm - home
"I don't have the time" is a myth.
This was my facebook status update today:
4:10am - get up
2hr 20min commute
7.10am - Run no.1
8:30-5:30 - work
5:50pm - Run no.2
2hr 20min commute
9:05pm - home
"I don't have the time" is a myth.
Friday 19th
Rest day. These are pretty rare. I'll usually do core or get on the wattbike at the gym but after yesterday's efforts I figured full rest was justified (although I don't enjoy doing nothing).
Saturday 20th
My plan to turn up at parkrun fresh & rested almost worked. But another fractious night with Finn meant I'd prepared with 3hrs sleep instead. I bemoaned this fact to my friends Dave & Lucy who had come down for a bit of parkrun tourism and openly decided I didn't have the mental strength to batter it, so would settle on a light tempo run instead. That's how I set off, and the usual tide of overeager starters ran away from me as I settled in and decided I felt pretty good. But the tide started to come back in pretty quickly and I realised that the two young lads who had scampered off in the lead weren't actually getting away. And so it was about 1km in I decided I would try and expend as little energy as possible whilst going for the win. After some shameless drafting and a confident surge to bridge the gap to the now solitary leader, with 1 mile left I pushed on and attempted to run a respectable final mile split (came in at 5:40) which opened the gap I needed to win. All very enjoyable, and a controlled effort. Considering how pedestrian the first 2 miles had felt I figured we'd run around 19 minutes so the time of 18:18 was a surprise. There was lots left in the tank today so I'm excited to try a harder effort at parkrun in the coming weeks.
Sunday 21st
I decided to forgo the usual Sunday Brighton group run and attempt 12 miles on my own so that we could get into town quicker after for a final flurry of Xmas shopping. Early morning was hard as Finn was super grouchy and inconsolable. He was driving us both crazy, I raised my voice with him at one point and then immediately felt shitty for doing it as he just cried more. What a surprise. So, an out and back route to Birling gap in some pissy, bleak weather felt like suitable penance for being a crap dad. It wasn't fun, but the plain hard work of the climbing and the headwind will probably have a decent training effect. Actually, the final 3 miles of downhill and tailwind were fun, dropping a 5:xx mile split into any long run is always good for the soul.
As is so often the case after a decent run, I feel like I was a better dad for the remainder of the day. We had a fun day of Xmas shopping and Finn seeing his little buddies at a family Xmas party later in the day. I fueled myself entirely for the day with sandwiches and party food. And beer, and Port. Athlete. With just one day left in the office (tomorrow!) the Christmas break is tantalisingly close.
Rest day. These are pretty rare. I'll usually do core or get on the wattbike at the gym but after yesterday's efforts I figured full rest was justified (although I don't enjoy doing nothing).
Saturday 20th
My plan to turn up at parkrun fresh & rested almost worked. But another fractious night with Finn meant I'd prepared with 3hrs sleep instead. I bemoaned this fact to my friends Dave & Lucy who had come down for a bit of parkrun tourism and openly decided I didn't have the mental strength to batter it, so would settle on a light tempo run instead. That's how I set off, and the usual tide of overeager starters ran away from me as I settled in and decided I felt pretty good. But the tide started to come back in pretty quickly and I realised that the two young lads who had scampered off in the lead weren't actually getting away. And so it was about 1km in I decided I would try and expend as little energy as possible whilst going for the win. After some shameless drafting and a confident surge to bridge the gap to the now solitary leader, with 1 mile left I pushed on and attempted to run a respectable final mile split (came in at 5:40) which opened the gap I needed to win. All very enjoyable, and a controlled effort. Considering how pedestrian the first 2 miles had felt I figured we'd run around 19 minutes so the time of 18:18 was a surprise. There was lots left in the tank today so I'm excited to try a harder effort at parkrun in the coming weeks.
Sunday 21st
I decided to forgo the usual Sunday Brighton group run and attempt 12 miles on my own so that we could get into town quicker after for a final flurry of Xmas shopping. Early morning was hard as Finn was super grouchy and inconsolable. He was driving us both crazy, I raised my voice with him at one point and then immediately felt shitty for doing it as he just cried more. What a surprise. So, an out and back route to Birling gap in some pissy, bleak weather felt like suitable penance for being a crap dad. It wasn't fun, but the plain hard work of the climbing and the headwind will probably have a decent training effect. Actually, the final 3 miles of downhill and tailwind were fun, dropping a 5:xx mile split into any long run is always good for the soul.
As is so often the case after a decent run, I feel like I was a better dad for the remainder of the day. We had a fun day of Xmas shopping and Finn seeing his little buddies at a family Xmas party later in the day. I fueled myself entirely for the day with sandwiches and party food. And beer, and Port. Athlete. With just one day left in the office (tomorrow!) the Christmas break is tantalisingly close.
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