The start of an easier week with lower mileage throughout the week and no speed or hill work, 14 miles on Saturday and active recovery on Sunday.
Tuesday – 5 Miles
Up before the alarm and out at 0415 for a much chillier 5 miler using a similar route down to the SDR Bridge and back. Started easy and felt good so increased the pace for some negative splits throughout (apart from stopping at mile 4 for the obligatory Strava cover shot!).
As for the left foot, it’s still not quite right but at the same time it’s not really causing an issue when running or walking. You get an occasional twinge but other than that it doesn’t interfere.
Tomorrow’s run is scheduled to be 3 miles but will I resist the temptation to do a couple more miles?
Distance: 5 Miles
Wednesday – 3 Miles
As part of the down week rather than the usual hills or speed work on a Wednesday, I just needed to do a 5k run. As the run is half the distance to what I usually run on a Wednesday I could have gotten up later but instead I decided to stick to the 0415 starts I’ve been maintaining so that I’m used to getting up at that time, particularly as the morning runs are going to get longer as the training progresses.
The temptation was there to run a bit further but if you’re going to follow a training plan you really should stick to it. It was a nice change to do a shorter run and I kept it simple with the double loop around the Riverfront which combined with running there and back is exactly 5k.
Distance: 3.11 Miles
Thursday – 5 Miles
Last morning run of the week and up before the alarm again making it easy to get out there. A touch earlier today which made it even quieter on the roads. Still finishing in the dark but by the time I get back there are slivers of light on the horizon so the lighter mornings will be here soon.
Everything felt good, including the foot, and even though it was nice running a shorter distance, I’m looking forward to a bit of an increase in miles next week.
Distance: 5 Miles
Saturday – 14 Miles
The fourth and final run of the week and a shorter than usual run with 14 miles planned. I couldn’t stray too far as I had a sports massage booked at 1030 so plotted a route in nearby Monmouthshire and selected roads and country lanes that I hadn’t run before. The anti-clockwise route would start in Rogiet and pass through Caldicot, Portskewett, Leechpool, Crick, Caerwent, Llanvaches and Llanvihangel Rogiet and finishing back at Rogiet.
I misjudged my timings on when to start the run so didn’t have particularly long to complete the run have a shower and then drive to the sports massage so would need to pick up the pace and hope that I didn’t encounter any horses in need of a selfie!
Portions of the route follow main roads so aren’t particularly interesting but as soon as it encountered a country lane things became much more scenic especially towards the end with a downhill section with the Severn Bridge in the distance. I finished the 13.6 miles in 1h 52m with some stops to take photos so gave me just enough time to drive home for a shower and then onto the sports massage.
The Sports Massage
This was the first massage since late last year so I had quite a few long runs in the legs which meant there a few moments when I winced as knotted muscles were unknotted. The therapist couldn’t find anything wrong with my foot but did try loosening muscles around it. It’s good that there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with it although it is very much still there.
Distance: 13.6 Miles
Sunday – Active Recovery
The first Sunday since starting the training and the plan called for Active Recovery. I usually walk a lot throughout the week in addition to the running so I didn’t have to do anything specific other than just not running.
I decided to head down to Llantwit Major to go in search for fossils. The area is well known for fossils and there aren’t any restrictions on collecting but this means that they are becoming harder to find. That said, it only took me a few minutes before I spotted my first mollusc. Molluscs are the most common fossil in the cliffs and as soon as I’d spotted one I started to spot others in the same band of rock. With the rock being quite soft it was easy to extract them and after 30 minutes I came away with half a dozen molluscs.
The area has got a large number of boulders that have fallen from the cliffs over the years and if you want to explore further away from the main beach you need to clamber over them. I made sure I stuck to the larger rocks and was doing well until I was making my way back and the rock I stepped onto moved resulting in me taking a tumble and bashing both knees. I was a bit shook up but walking didn’t seem to be an issue so I was hoping that there was no major damage. Later in the day there was some swelling and discomfort but I could still walk without any issues so I’m hoping that things will be ok for week 7 of training.
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