Monday 19th - Sunday 25th November

Training Report:

This week's training has been a little odd for me. All week I've felt quite tired and lethargic. I haven't really been rushing to put my trainers on and race out of the door like normal. It has been a real struggle to get the motivation and energy to actually do any training. Due to this I only did one session each day, I wasn't a completely lazy so and so, and did a lot of stretching and mobility exercises as well as some core work, but in terms of the really good stuff I only did the minimum each day.

As I left each day to go running I had the feeling that each session was going to hurt, that I was going to struggle to complete my speed sessions, run at a decent pace on my long runs and that I wasn't really going to have too much fun. Happily, however the contrary was true of every session. Despite feeling very sluggish before and after each session, whilst I was actually running I felt great. Two loops of Richmond Park felt easy in well under and hour and a half. Tuesday's speed session of 15 x 300 metres, which mentally I was dreading because of my lack of enthusiasm as well as the monotony of a high rep number session, I was fine. I was three seconds quicker than planned each go, which does add up! And I managed to hit my increased target pace for my final three with ease.

I did another track session on Thursday, 4 x 2000 metres and again felt strong, relaxed and very comfortable with what I was doing. Which all made the lacklustre way I felt just an hour after the session very confusing. I was expecting the way I felt all week to result in a dip in form, not an increase!

On Friday I went away to Birmingham to visit a friend, and the couple of days away seems to have refreshed me. Running in a new area is always quite fun, you head out the door and have no clue as to where you're going to go, you make it up as you go along, which makes each run feel a bit like an adventure! And as long as you manage to avoid the dodgy end of town you're fine!

Perhaps I was finding the routes I take at home were making me feel a bit stale mentally, and a quick breaks left me with a new freshness for my training. But what ever it was - touch wood - it seems to have gone. I feel a lot more like the Will I was seven days ago. Whether that is actually a good or bad thing only my friends and family can say!