Week five of eighteen of training, and it’s really just a case of working the process. And maybe – just maybe – paying a little more attention.
Tuesday was fine. It was supposed to be a three mile day, I ended up a little over as I ran round Linlithgow Loch. Nothing much to say about this run, except it was wet and windy…
Max elevation: 69 m
Min elevation: 41 m
Wednesday wasn’t terribly clever. I spent some time on Google Maps devising a nice six mile run to do after work, part of which involved joining the canal at a specific point. Guess what, you can’t join the canal at that point!
So I ran along the road – luckily it had a pavement, because it was pitch dark. Eventually I was able to join the towpath at Philipstoun, but my six mile easy run had beome considerably longer. So much longer, in fact, that I was desperate to get back and so I ran faster than I should have for an easy run.
So, call that one eight miles…
Max elevation: 102 m
Min elevation: 54 m
Thursday saw me doing pilates at lunchtime, and watching as the weather just got worse and worse. Eventually I decided to chicken out and do my short three mile run on the treadmill. It was so sweaty, though – I do prefer being outside
On Saturday, the wind was blowing strongly. Gusting over 40mph, I was to be found running along the canal for a six miler at marathon pace. And my Apple Watch was playing up too; suddenly all my times were in minutes per km rather than minutes per mile. So I spent much of the run trying to work out whether my speed was appropriate!
I also tried climbing the Wallacestone Brae. I’m afraid to say it defeated me. I have a lot more hill practice to do!
How windy was it? Windy enough that a tree was blown over in the local park… I hope nobody was sitting on that bench!
Max elevation: 152 m
Min elevation: 74 m
And that just left Sunday, the long, slow run. As with the past few weeks, I started from Stirling Uni, this time I simply added an extra lap of Airthrey Loch to get the distance up to twelve miles.
No snow, minimal rain – this time it was wind causing the problem. The outbound portion of the run was fine, but the wind was against me as I came back west along the Hillfoots and up towards Innovation Park.
So, that’s another week down. Next week is a step-back week, then the distances rise a bit – the LSRs in the following two weeks will be fourteen and fifteen miles.
I have, however, booked in for the Alloa Half Marathon on 18th March. This is a beautiful run and I was very disappointed that I didn’t think I would have been able to take part in it. However, I have re-checked the schedule and it turns out I can take part. This will be the end of week 12 of my training. My goal is to run the Half at training pace – ten minutes per mile – and just enjoy the scenery.
The week after that is seriously scary.
