Great North Run: Training Week 4

MONDAY: brightened up a grey, miserable and damp 'summers' day with a fast 8km. My average kilometre split was 4.46 minutes so needless to say I was happy to be well under the 5 minute mark! Body Pump class afterwards.

TUESDAY: Body Attack class

WEDNESDAY: evening commitments meant I was up early for the 7am Body Pump class at my gym. I ran to the gym, grateful that the unseasonably fresh morning air helped to wake me up! I also ran back from the gym, but with a post-body pump heavy feeling in my legs I was glad this was only a short distance. After work I managed to squeeze in my planned 8k run, again recording a fast average pace - slightly faster than Monday - of 4.44min kilometres.

THURSDAY: after two reasonably fast runs this week I chose to head to the local common for my 9.5k run. I hoped the terrain would force me to run slower - and it did a little, although probably not as much as I thought it would. I finished the run at the gym for stretching and some leg strengthening exercises.

FRIDAY: Rest Day

SATURDAY: despite not feeling amazing, and my glutes feeling sore still from Thursdays gym work, I was shocked to nearly hit my 10k PB time on a 10k training run, managing 47.51 minutes.

SUNDAY: within a few kilometres of starting my long run I could tell my legs were tired. They did not feel fresh at all. Reflecting back this was probably due to a week of fast paced runs and no real easy session, especially running a relatively fast 10k run only the day before. I ran with my friend though which helped me keep the pace consistent despite feeling like I wanted to slow down. Towards the end of the 16km my legs felt extremely lethargic, and I did succumb a little. Although it did not feel amazing my average pace was only just over 5 minute kilometres with an overall time of 1hour 20mins - so I was happy. We also managed to add another animal selfie to our collection, scouting out a willing goat who posed duly for the camera (see image)!