Mixed week!

In my last blog I spoke about doing the North East Harrier League but the Thursday tempo completed less than 48 hours after the 10 x 800 super session was sign enough to persuade me that I was feeling tired....for me it doesn't really matter too much what the tempo speed is but it should be controlled hard pace...comfortably hard maybe but on that day I struggled to stay under 6 minute miling but more importantly it felt terrible...definitely not comfortably hard...!!

Soon after that session I felt a sore throat come on and this ended up with a bit of a cough so racing was put out of the mind and I opted for steady running only.  

Just about recovered I enjoyed a fairly decent 4 x 1 mile session last night with all four reps around the 5.35 to 5.40 mark.    Next race is the Maltby 7 on Sunday.    My aim is quite simple on this race...quicker than last year!    Last year I definitely wasn't as fit as I am now but managed an average pace of 5-40 per mile for the 7 (and a bit!) mile course.     Looking back at the last year since last years Maltby 7 I have enjoyed an ultra consistent year...the stats show an average of almost 51 miles per week and I have managed to keep those quality sessions going most weeks.    In my next run (expected to be tomorrow morning!) I will have notched up all of my run mileage from last year with almost 2 months left in the year.

In this weeks Athletics Weekly there is an article debating the benefits of twice a day running.   For me it works.  I dont run twice a day every day but usually about four days a week I have a morning run and follow that up with a second session in that day.   A typical week for me is:

Monday:   Easy run am.    Run pm either steady or a tempo session
Tuesday:   Steady run am  Run pm either steady or a tempo session
Wednesday:  Easy run am then Run pm steady
Thursday:  Easy run am then Interval based session pm
Friday :  easy Run am
Saturday:    Long Tempo Session - 8 to 12 miles
Sunday:    Either long steady run (12 miles plus) or Race (if racing Saturday would be an easy run depending upon how important the race is).

For me this seems to work ok and the twice a day running session has the following benefits:

- First run of the day can be a nice loosener and make the evening run more productive with a greater emphasis on quality

- Allows for a bit of a recovery session

Running twice a day is, however, not for everyone and it is important that you build up the number of sessions you do in a week gradually.   It does take a bit of getting used to but in my opinion is worth persevering with.

Finally the sad news this week that Cigar Smoking Marathon Man Sir Jimmy Saville died aged 84.   What an amazing guy.......212 marathons completed amongst many many crazy and outrageous achievements.   What  a legend!