As the first proper A-Race of the year looms on the 1st of March (The 20 mile Grizzly), I’m focused on quality and recovery as much as possible.
Quality wise, I’m making sure that my schedule allows for one strong tempo run and a long run each week, starting this week I opted for a long run on the road and at a good effort level (MP+30 secs) which was tough and still leaves me needing to build some more marathon paced runs into this block.
The remainder of the week is relatively easy mileage and I’m making sure to run my easy/recovery days slower than I used to as I’m sure like many people I run those days too fast.
Much beyond the planned 20 miler on Wednesday it was an easy week as Monday which is normally a tempo run was easy due to Dewsbury 10k the day before being a beast of an effort. I was pleased to cover the 20 miles in 2:26 (7:18/mile) with the last few at marathon pace although running through the streets of Huddersfield at 05:30 on a Wednesday morning is fairly joyless.
My left knee and calf muscles are starting to feel a little tight – perhaps due to the unusual amount of road mileage – so I am taking extra care to hydrate, stretch and get a protein drink in me after the long run. Probably time to get a sports massage too.
Big two weeks planned where I want to get up to 65-70 miles before an easy week prior to the Grizzly.
- Monday – 9 miles
- Tuesday – 6.7 miles
- Wednesday – 20 miles
- Thursday – 9 miles
- Friday – 8 miles
- Saturday – Rest
- Sunday – Rest
Total: 52.8 miles, 2,930ft elevation