January 2015

[marathondan]

Week 3 of 18

This week I have mostly been struggling with:

1. Traction
2. Back

I got two lunchtime runs in for my interval and tempo sessions, as I am still mercifully client-free at work for a few more weeks. Once they're back, and the runs get up to 4+ miles, it's hard to get out, back and showered within the hour mark.

Despite its reputation as an urban jungle, Bracknell town centre seems to have plenty of mud, if you know where to look. After half a mile or so on pavement, my route takes me across three waterlogged football pitches (which would have been a delight on a Sunday morning) and then a few half-mile laps around the mill pond - which provides more soggy turf, a very short but fun bit of woodland trail, and some short tarmac paths. 

So at the slightest hit of a bend or incline (or worse, a bendy incline) I find myself having to stop to a walk, just to avoid drifting off into a tree, or the incoming traffic exiting the McDonalds drive-thru. I can't decide if all these extra lateral forces are good or bad for me. 

Sunday morning, with a bit of a hangover - it's not often I get the chance to start drinking at 3pm - I dragged myself out before 0800 (the hangover wasn't that bad) and took the same offroad route as last week. It was a bit drier, but still the truly offroad parts were swampy and impossible to cover at anything more than the slowest of plods. It felt like a fairly dreary effort, but the record shows that I finished it 4 minutes faster than last week, which doesn't sound much but is half a minute per mile better. I'll put most of that down to the drier conditions.

I spent most of the day feeling tired and experiencing some nasty back twinges, which is what makes me worry that all this slipping and sliding isn't doing me good. Hopefully the tiredness was mostly down to the hangover, a reminder that I can't get away with that too often.

Maybe this week I'll try and stick to the roads for the speed sessions. On the long run, it doesn't matter if I slow to a walk through the most treacherous bits.

Oh I should mention - it was bloody lovely out on Sunday morning. A light frost on the grass - not enough to freeze the mud - and the sun rising into a clear blue sky. It took me a while to notice because I was looking down at the trail so much. This is probably more important than the times.