Once again I find myself apologizing for a ridiculously long gap between blogs! Truth be told, this last few weeks have been pretty difficult. I have still been averaging about 4 runs a week, which is nowhere near what I had planned and due to injury and various colds…the runs I have done haven't been as long or as intensive as they needed to be and as a result I feel pretty lousy about the whole thing and woefully under prepared.
I always knew that marathon training was going to be difficult. I have never been a natural runner and it has never been easy for me. I just tend to get by with pure bloody minded determination but recently I have been really struggling.
This is a fairly accurate representation of how I look/feel when I'm running at the moment.
I just feel so exhausted from both marathon training and the ridiculous amount of studying that I don’t think I remember the last run I actually felt good on or enjoyed. With under 8 weeks to go I am really hoping that I will get back my running mojo soon!
I have decided to try a new training plan, one that involves a lot more cross training. I am still going to aim for around 4 runs a week with a couple of spinning sessions thrown in. I am going to try and go to running club twice a week as this will encourage me to push myself more than when I run alone.
From the amount of pain I’ve been in this last month, I am guessing that running 6 days a week does not suit my body. My calves in particular have been causing me a lot of problems and in the last week I have pulled a muscle in the arch of my foot which is very uncomfortable.
That being said, I’ve not done too badly this week.
Monday was a decent 5 mile run, though this was the first day that my foot started causing me problems.
Tuesday I had planned to go to running club but in the end didn’t go because my foot was hurting too much. I then planned to go to the gym to do some cycling, but my bike light wasn’t working (it really was one of those days when life just isn’t on your side!) In the end I did level 2 of Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred DVD. This is actually a pretty good workout, short but intense. I recommend it if you want to get a sweat on in a short space of time!
Wednesday I finally had a good workout! In the morning I did my first bit of intentional cross training with 7am spinning class followed by another trip to the gym in the evening for an interval threshold training session which had me dripping with sweat after about 10 minutes! Overall I felt pretty good, though the pain in my foot was making itself known throughout.
Thursday I had a day off the cardio and did some resistance work instead (I am much better at this than running!) and yesterday I tested out the foot with a 2 mile jog. Conclusion – still painfull!
Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to report back with a successful run!
xxx
Rosie
