The rebuild has begun, week 1, 25miles

Hello. It's been a few months since my last blog. Although I've been quiet it's been far from uneventful.

I did a run on October 3rd in prep for the Herts 10k but got a pretty bad chest infection which floored me for a few weeks. It was so bad I ended up having a chest x-ray, and that was so bad I had to go for another. Yep, the first x-ray suggested something suspicious and so I was sent back with my heart very firmly in my mouth.

Fortunately it was just a very bad infection but the evidence was it would be 4-6 weeks before I was fit, well that was November written off. Just when I was about to kick off in early December I got the next round of lurgy that hit everyone down here. So no running until after Christmas. Phew. Sorry about that lot but you might have wondered what's been going on.

Anyway. New Year, new start and time to rebuild the 1000 mile man. Ha ha.

It's been a bit harder than I hoped. The legs have been hurting, the heart pounding and the lungs wondering what's going on. And all at a snails pace.

To be fair, it's got easier and this morning as I set off in the dark to meet Anthony, I had no regrets about a 0645 wake up or running in the freezing cold. It was invigorating.

We managed a good 11 miles at chatting pace at just over 9min. Slow but this was the longest run for quite a few months.

The plan for this next week is to build the mileage, let's see if I can get 35miles in and add a rep session on Thursday. That should be fun.

I also need to get a few races in the diary so any ideas fire them my way. 2011 targets are a sub 40min 10k and a sub 1.30 half marathon. Not sure whether I'll manage a marathon but Loch Ness sounds tempting.

Watering along the way, 5.3miles

We've planted some peas and they needed a bit of a watering so I had to spend a few minutes at the allotment doing the watering - with watering cans.

From there I headed out towards Luton on the Nickey line. I decided to throw in a 2 mile blast at race pace to see how it felt. I was pleased to find the pace without having to stare at my Garmin and even more delighted to see my heart stay in zone 2. That's a good sign for the marathon.

The scaling back of the mileage has been having a strange effect on my running. It feels lighter and at the end of the runs there's a kind of "is that it" moment. I guess I'll have the same feeling after the marathon but probably with a bit more leg pain.

So it was 5.3miles. Went up Cooters End Lane and found myself trying to slow down. No points for too much fast running at this late stage.

I've got new running shoes being delivered tomorrow. A new pair of Asics Stratus 3, I'll only have a few miles to bed them in but these others are officially shot to bits.
"Trainers for sale or rent"

Good Darts, Jocky at the Oche. 10.1 miles.

So the best description of Sunday's rain was "Imagine being hosed continuously for 15mins, thats what it was like on the windows of our house." Yeah, imagine being caught running in it. I'm still reeling from the water logged drenching I got.

Anyway, it was a rest day yesterday and so today was an easy 10miles to get back into the week.

I headed for the Cooters End Lane Loop, added the Nickey Line, Roundwood Lane, Falconers Field and down to Redbourn Golf Course. From there it was back to Rothamsted Park and home.

Today brought up the 180 mile mark. Good Darts! I dedicated the mileage to a Scottish ledgend, the one and only Jocky Wislon. Jocky was a hero in the late 70's and early 80's.

Its a Beautiful Day, 10.5miles

So I was working at home thinking I'd love to get out for a run when the phone goes, its Niall, he's working at home and is planning a lunchtime run. Ok, that's all it takes, quick change and I'm off down to his, the plan is to do the Wheathampstead loop which is around 6 miles. I'm already thinking I'll do a bit more and get it up to 10 if I can.

We're both in bright yellow tops, which is a bit loud for the locals but at least we don't get knocked down by the car coming round the corner towards us.

We set off at what Niall calls "chatting pace", its a bit quicker than normal for me on an easy run but he's entertaining me with stories and so I hardly notice we're bombing along.

We get to Wheathampstead doing about 8min/miles and then we head up the hill to Marshallswick. It's a Paul Savage loop and involves a good climb followed by a run across a ploughed field. From there its back to Batford and then Niall throws in a sprint from the River Lea to the corner shop on Station Road. I hit 4.40min/mile pace, which is flat out for me.

From there Niall headed home and I added the Cooters End Lane Loop. I was now trying to stay at around 9min pace but that was prooving tricky and I kept edging faster.

Got home in just over 80 mins with 10.5miles completed. Nice run after yesterday's rest day. Tomorrow is reps day and I'm already feeling the pain of the set of gutbusters to come.

Friday Tempo and Saturday Cotton Top

A tempo run in Sherwood Forest was tough. 24 mins in Z4 resulted in 3.27miles, a little shorter than normal but it was a tougher terrain.

Saturday afternoon I managed a 5 mile loop out to Cooters End Lane. The focus was form and cadence, as well as keeping in Z2 for the duration. There were a few walkers and cyclists on the path but overall it was a quiet relaxing easy run.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to complete a 12-14 mile run before 0830. We'll see.

An early 5

A busy day was ahead so the decision was made for an early 5 miles. Half expected to see Paul on an early one but instead bumped into Tom Doe one of the PT's at Harpers.
I decided the Cooters End Lane loop was best as I had just under an hour. The weather was fine, fortunately the rain had stopped.
It was an uneventful easy run. The only surprise was on putting on my HR monitor. All the way round the readings were all over the place. When I got back I realised I'd put it on with the sensors facing out. Doh. Clearly 6.15 is too early for me.