Training Mon 1st December - Sun 7th December

I've been feeling a little low of late, running-wise.
It's often been a struggle to get out the door and go running. I've felt tired and low on energy. My running, when I do make it out of the door, is solid but not spectacular.

I think it's the mid-winter blues! The days are short and the nights are cold. I've been in need of a change of scene and a short break to revitalise me. I know I love running, but sometimes I question this.
Especially when it's seven in the evening, freezing cold outside, while everyone is sitting around the fire watching TV and eating sweets, I have to out and do a ten mile run.

So a weekend in the party capital of the south coast, Swanage, will do me wonders!!
Having decided to take three days off, I was determined that I was going to work hard, so that when I took my break I really needed it.

I didn't change my mileage - I just pushed that bit harder on nearly every run. I'm a quality not quantity type of runner. I use easy runs to just turn over the legs and I try to keep away from logging up a lot of junk miles. I hoped that by going for quality and quantity for four days I don't fall into the 'junk miles' trap.

Monday was my usual forty and thirty minute runs. I just went further than normal, which was fine, but having run the same routes for years, knowing which route takes how long, I suddenly found I'd finished my loop but still had five minutes to go. I read an article by Paula Radcliffe years ago and she stated that if she was set a timed run and completed her route quicker than she planned she would run round the block till the time elapsed!
I've stuck with that idea ever since. The trouble is, my block takes less than thirty seconds to run round, so a new problem, in the guise of a dizzy spell, has now come into play!

I took Tuesday morning’s run relatively slowly so I still had some pace for the evening session - hill reps. It was a really cold night and I got lost in the fog of my own breath on more than one occasion. The hill (in Rayne's Park) that runs up to the Ridge Way that joins up to Wimbledon Village, takes about two minutes to run up, and we had to do it 12 times.
The climb starts slowly, so the speedsters always hit the front. I always like to hold back and then really work hard during the second half where the climb steepens dramatically. I like getting towed along the flatter, faster, lower section and to then work on my power and strength on the steeper section. I like to do the same in races using inclines as areas to push on, so imitating it in training can only help.

On Wednesday I was a little stiff and my morning twenty-minute stretch out run was torture. I could hear my muscles cracking and my bones creaking as the stiffness that had set in over night was eased out. But it always seems worth it by the evening. My legs are now far more pliable and I shot round my hour's run, enjoying the fact I managed to squeeze it in before dark, meaning I too could stay by the fire watching TV and eating sweets!

Thursday was a morning twenty-minute tempo run. I felt OK and it was a solid run. It was one of those runs where you cover the same ground as normal, it just seems a bit more of an effort than previously.
It is quite satisfying when you can still compete to the same level as when you felt fresh and full of running, which proves to me I've got a good strength and fitness base behind me.

I'd actually really enjoyed my running this week, but even so I knew that a short break would do me good. I was determined not to let the guilty feeling runners get when they miss sessions get the better of me. I had a nagging feeling on Friday morning but the craziness of Swanage kept me busy. Tearooms, steam train rides, penny falls, and walks on the beach - they had it all! It was just what I needed. I relaxed, ate lots of food and forgot about running for a weekend. It also gave me a big shot of pre-Christmas spirit that I'm sure will last me through to the New Year and hopefully beyond. I just need to make sure I remember where I left my trainers on Thursday evening!