VLM Attempt 2 by delasooze

Its week 9 which is a step back week and a suggested half marathon race. I couldnt find a local one though so I’ll be doing mine a bit later on in the schedule but I’m still covering that distance in my long run.

Week 8 finished with a 15 miler and other than the run up Eccy Road from Endcliffe Park, I felt really good and overall was 10.21 min/mile pace which is perhaps a little to quick for my target as the long run pace should be quite a bit slower than race pace. I also had a sports massage this week to make sure I keep in good shape.

I started week 9 with a slow recovery run of 4 miles the day after the 15 miler. A slow start but by the end of it I was loosened up and ready to go again. I then had a strength session with James where I finally manged to jump on the middle gym step. This may seem a strange achievement but its part of my strength building routine and a couple of months ago i couldnt jump on to the small one so it’s one I’m happy with!

I’ve also tried to get out in the fresh air a bit more this week, I think I’ve relied a bit too much on the treadmill over the last couple of weeks although I always do a minimum of my long run outside I could do with doing 3 outside. Wednesday was hill interval day followed by yoga.

I finshed work a bit earlier today and fearful of the arrival of a blizzard akin to the second ice age this weekend, i thought I’d get out and do my long run before it starts. So 13.1 it was an without really thinking too much about it, I’ve managed to knock 4 mins 24s of my previous p.b. and did this in 2 hrs and 47 seconds – if i’d not spent the first 2 miles trying to get my ipod on I’d probably have broken the sub 2 barrier as I did those around the 10 min/mile mark. My half marathon is in Retford at the beginning of March so hopefully I’ll break it then.

There’s just a 7 miler to do this weekend then which means I’ll be going out and having a few drinks tomorrow night with Vicky Kenny and the Murphy-Clarks (blizzard dependant), I think I deserve it!!