My Training Review: Training Week 6

MONDAY: started the week with a steady outdoor run of 9km. I tried to use this as a bit of a recovery run following Sunday's long run, not sure I quite succeeded as I still ended up running at around, or slightly quicker than marathon pace. My legs didn't feel too bad though, my calves were initially tight but loosened as the run progresses. Body Pump afterwards.

TUESDAY: I really struggled with my run today. I attempted to run 8km on the treadmill but made it to 6km before making myself stop as the pain in my calves was intense and I didn't want to risk any injury. I did make up the remaining 2km on the cross trainer which luckily didn't cause my calves any form of discomfort. From this experience I have now booked in my first ever sports massage for next week!

WEDNESDAY: in complete contrast to the day before I loved my 9km run today! It was one of those days when you know that all you need to do is go for a run to make yourself feel better.. and it worked! My legs felt tired but there was none of the pain I experienced on Tuesday - thankfully! Body Pump after.

THURSDAY: my seemingly cursed Body Attack class was not on again, so I did a circuits class which was mainly weights based with some lovely burpee, skipping and squat jump stations thrown in for good measure.

FRIDAY: Rest Day - filled my evening by experimenting with baking some protein flapjacks (see photo) with my friend! I found the easiest recipe I could and one which involved us buying the fewest ingredients. The flapjacks were made from a mix of oats, coconut oil, peanut butter, banana, raisins and almonds and I am pleased to say turned out ok - although we did run out of banana for the second batch, which meant they were very peanut buttery!

SATURDAY: Park Run (see below blog post)

SUNDAY: I conquered a half marathon today (21km), and perhaps what was most pleasing after my troubles earlier in the week was that my calves didn't feel tight! At the start of the run my legs did feel really tired and I was fearing the next few hours were going to be a complete struggle, but I soon got into my stride and enjoyed another beautiful morning of running - I was actually a little hot in sunny parts (as the above sweaty post run snap shows)! When I reached the 14km mark my pace noticeable dropped but by the end I didn't feel completely exhausted and could have gone on further if required. I aimed to stick to my marathon pace throughout however on reviewing my watch afterwards I set off too fast for the first few kilometres so need to work on keeping a consistent pace. My time overall was 2hrs 3mins - which seems on track for my target of a 4hour marathon....