My Training Week: Half Marathon Training

MONDAY: started the week with quite a fast 8km, averaging 5min 7sec kilometres. This was comfortable and I felt like I could have ran longer at this pace; a feeling I am attributing to the fact I had only ran 5km in the past three days so my legs were quite rested - for once! Body Pump afterwards.

TUESDAY: Body Attack - one track in this release absolutely kills my legs, it features lots of squats and lunges, as well going down to and getting up from the floor in a burpee like motion to complete press ups. It hurts at the time, and you just know you are going to be feeling it for the rest of the week.

WEDNESDAY: a relatively long evening run before Body Pump at 13km. At first my legs felt good, although my quads were sore from Body Attack, but they soon faded until it felt like I was literally trudging along! My actual time was not too bad, averaging 5.19 kilometres, just a shame it didn't feel that way! Body Pump afterwards.

THURSDAY: Rest Day

FRIDAY: enjoyed an early morning run with my friend who is currently nursing a stress fracture on her shin! I ran approx 4.5km to a large park area in Lincoln called West Common and met her there since she has been advised to only run on grass or soft surfaces. We then ran around the Common making the distance up to 11.5km in total. The Common is quite uneven and requires quite a lot of concentration when running in order to avoid turning your ankle. You also have to concentrate quite hard to avoid the free roaming horses that live there! (see image) I enjoyed running with my friend as her injury has rather limited our running opportunities so far this year, despite the fact we will both be running the Liverpool Half Marathon together!

SATURDAY: 6.5km on the treadmill including six fast sprints. This short, sharp run made the treadmill more bearable, and running in the gym also gave me the chance to do some good stretching, core work and additional arm weights.

SUNDAY: my first Sunday long run since the marathon. Initially it seemed a little odd going through the pre run routine again, but it soon felt normal and so much better than having to run long in the evenings after a full day at work, which I have had to do the past two weeks. I was lucky to be able to run with my other friend today and with her company the 17km went by so quickly! I was barely even paying attention to the distance, had no concept of time at all, and wasn't constantly debating how my legs felt in my head - just enjoying running! It was only at the final stretch, when met by one of Lincoln's lovely steep hills, that my legs suddenly went 'no thank you!'. Thankfully at this point we had completed our distance! Afterwards the run was made even better by being able to enjoy a post run smoothie and homemade biscuits made by my friend!