Monday, October 20, 2008

Fly me to Cuba!

Someone has hijacked my legs and flown them to Cuba leaving me two hollow husks! Quite clearly a “recovery” run is a complete misnomer it’s more like a stumble or lurch, which is pretty much what I did for 7 miles tonight. I am now halfway through the program and I have six weeks training proper then a 12 day taper. Hopefully I’ll get my legs back by Wednesday as I start repeats: 20 min warm up, 3 x 1600m (1 min rest), 10 min cool down. It’s been a long time since I did any serious speed work so as an incentive I went out an got some racing flats and signed up for a 5k which will be in 5 weeks time. I am not looking for a PR but somewhere in the vicinity would be nice, as they say if you want to race fast, run fast. I am having to tweak my training mileage around the speed work and now having had my last long bike ride at the weekend I have four runs a week; long, recovery, repeats and tempo, although this weekend I am racing Saturday so Friday night will need to be revisited and then two cross training sessions. There is actually only six weeks of training to go and another 300+ miles to cover, it’s all coming up quite fast now and by the time Thanksgiving is over I’ll have one long run left and then I will be tapering!

I had an epiphany on my runs about finish times, I wasn't thinking about them at all but two sets of numbers just popped into my head; one for my 50k and one for the 50m race. I have to say I'd be pleased if they pan out, but so as not to jinx anything I'll keep them to myself...for now!

8 comments:

  1. With all that mileage, it's no wonder you feel like your legs have departed to Cuba!

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  2. Also, by keeping them to yourself, you have the added benefit of changing them based on your actual results before publicly announcing them!

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  3. Gosh, I hope your legs come back from Cuba, soon!! :-) Oh and I can't wait to find out what your "epiphany" on the finish times is!

    Oh and THANK YOU so much for the detailed advice and tips on ultras and trail running. There was a lot to absorb but at least I have an idea where to start!! Thanks again.

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  4. Keep 'er steady and you'll do fine.
    You training is looking great, so your right, don't jinx yourself.

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  5. Good luck on the speed workout. I hate/love them.

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  6. you are such a tease... we could beat the goals out of you if we wanted :)

    Recovery runs are nothing more than another run. My body never could tell the difference :)

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  7. My incentive to do my SOS (Sucky ol speedwork) is to give myself a carrot to get me through. It used to be beer, but now i've moved on to either froyo or a latte. It's the little things in life.

    Great job on sticking to your plan--as soon as my marathons are over I am going to have to balance training for an ultra and Honu (half-ironman). It's interesting to see how you have it mapped out.

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  8. Sub-5 and sub-7?

    Am I close?

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