Marathon Diaries – 8

This week has been a bit of a mess, a beautiful mess, but a mess all the same. I’ve been a bit all over the place and lost my normal ‘organised chaos’ cool. I’ve really just been trying to make it to now (sunday) without screwing anything up (too badly). I’ve also been taking part in Trigger Points ROLLITFORWARD campaign; which aims to get us all using our foam rollers every day. They cleverly enticed me with the chance to win cool stuff for completing the full 7 days.

I have a major addiction to buying new running kit so any freebees I can get along the way will seriously improve my relationship with the bank! On a more serious note though, injury is a real fear of mine, and I know my stretching and rolling routine is pretty poor. I was excited to push my self to use my roller every day, learn some better techniques and give my body the attention it needs.

Monday:
Rest – I always do my longest runs on a sunday and after them a day off is much needed. Plus Monday’s and friday’s tend to be my busiest days of work, so the added pressure of getting a run in might just make blue monday impossible.

ROLLITFORWARD: Lower Leg

Tuesday:
Vinyasa Flow Yoga focussed on back bend variations.

5.5 mile trail run. The temperature was an icey -2°C but it felt totally refreshing. I love my tuesday night off-road miles. My run club is really fun and the hill work is massively improving my stamina and speed.

ROLLITFORWARD: Quads

Wednesday:
I would normally have PT, but Sophie was not well so I opted to run. An easy 4.5miles at 9:24 pace.

ROLLITFORWARD: Hips and Glutes

Thursday:
Vinyasa Flow Yoga focussed on twists and hip opener variations.

5 mile tempo run. My legs felt like lead, so this was hardly my best tempo run! I pushed through the annoyances of my body and manage a 9:00 pace.

ROLLITFORWARD: Rolling on the go

Friday:
Vinyasa Flow Yoga focussed on side plank variations.

ROLLITFORWARD: Side Torso

Saturday:
Rest day which in fact consisted of trudging through Brighton trying to find some compression socks to try out! I’m learning what a rest day means slowly but surely, this was not one of my finest. 11,000 steps clocked!

ROLLITFORWARD: Mid/Upper Back

Sunday:
The big one, 13 miles! This felt like a major milestone for me today. I’m not sure if it feels the same for others on the road to their first marathon? My first half marathon race is in just 2 weeks so getting these challenging miles in gave me a massive boost. I went offroad with some of the guys and gals from my running club.

Foggy and Hilly would be an understatement, our climb peaked at about 740ft. I came home covered in mud but full of happiness and that sense of achievement that only running outside in the mud can give you.

Gosh if I don’t say it enough, I truly love running!

ROLLITFORWARD: Rolling with friends

c-x