So, the challenge for this week was to find a good balance between resting and getting back to training.
I decided that my best move was to let thing go until Thursday, and then I would see how I got on in Pilates. That actually went well, so I tried going out for a run
My initial plan was to do just a couple of miles, but when I was out on the canal towpath I decided to go as far as a specific bridge. By the time I got back to the car I was already well over two miles, and it would only be a little bit extra to get up to three miles… so I did so.
Running felt quite good – maybe I am in a good enough state to get back to training?
This time I was determined not to make the same mistakes as last week – I had my illuminated belt, a head torch and my reflective leggings. Nobody was going to miss me on this run!
Max elevation: 81 m
Min elevation: 74 m
Friday was a rest day, so my next run was Saturday. This was down as a five miler at marathon pace in the plan. I knew that I wasn’t recovered enough to do that, so I stuck to training pace and did a little over four. I’m just getting back into it, that’s okay
Max elevation: 112 m
Min elevation: 69 m
Sunday was the LSR day. I was dropping my daughter off in Stirling to do her job, and so I decided to go to Stiring Uni for the run. There is a stretch I wanted to know well before the marathon, that is the section from the Uni out to the A91 junction. I’ve driven this route many times, but that’s not the same as knowing what it’s like underfoot.
Setting off from the Uni was lovely. I was able to use the facilities at the student centre before starting, and then head out along the marathon route to the high point of the Uni, where I took photographs of runners last year. Then out to the car park, and downhill to the Airthrey Road (A9). Turning right there, I ran along to the A91 junction.
There’s a loop here in the marathon, where the official route goes north on the A91 to the Hillfoots. Well, I chose not to run that way because there is no pavement. Instead, I went straight on, and ran as far as the Gogar Loan road. There I headed north onto the Hillfoots road, then turned back towards the Uni. I went into the University’s back entrance, climbing the hill to finish the run.
The University is really a pretty place.
But not only that. It has a publicly accessible changing room with showers, and it has a cafeteria that does a first-rate cheeseburger and coffee for under a fiver. I think I might be doing more of my Sunday LSRs from Stirling Uni!
So, that’ me back on the horse. I’m not 100%; I still have a bit of a chesty cough. I hope I am not doing too much too soon. But I have a day off tomorrow, and a gentle three miler on Tuesday, so that should give me a decent interval for recovery. It ramps up on Wednesday with a six mile midweek run, then Saturday and Sunday are quite brutal – a six miler at marathon pace followed by a slow eleven mile run.
Things are starting to get real…
