My Training Week: Oxford Half Marathon

MONDAY: Monday marked the start of race week, with the Oxford Half Marathon taking place on Sunday. My mind set for the week was to take things relatively steady, just to ensure that my legs could be in the best possible state come race day. I ran today - the first time I have managed to run following a long run in a month! My legs did feel a bit tight after Sunday's ten miles, but I still recorded a reasonable 5.05min/km average time across the 8k distance. Body Pump class afterwards - the new release of this class is officially a killer and I literally felt drained afterwards!

TUESDAY: my usual Body Attack class was not on, which was probably a good thing on race week. I opted instead for a Spinning class, which I think was the first time I had been to such a class in about ten months...this may also not have been the best idea on race week, however I seemed to survive ok!

WEDNESDAY: I attended the 7am Body Pump class today with my friend, and was then debating doing a double Body Pump session by going again in the evening - not exactly sticking to my overall week plan of taking things steady I know! Luckily my 8k evening run felt so good, and my legs virtually painless for the first time in a long time, that I was quickly brought to my senses and chose not to unnecessarily tire my body by doing Body Pump again.

THURSDAY: my last run before Oxford. I headed to the local Common for what was meant to be a steady 9k, but again my legs felt good and it ended up being a relatively fast run - a feeling which I hoped was a good sign for Sunday.

FRIDAY: I had intended this to be a rest day, but I came home from work with a niggling head ache and knew I needed to get out and do something. My friend, who was also running Oxford on Sunday, and I headed to the gym for a light cross training session (see image) and some foam rolling, which I definitely felt better for afterwards.

SATURDAY: Rest Day

SUNDAY: Oxford Half Marathon - and a new PB! For an unplanned race in which my preparation has been unfocussed and imperfect, and a race in which I have spent the majority of the time feeling unoptimistic about, a PB was a thoroughly welcomed result! I crossed the line in 1hr 47mins 14secs, taking over 2mins of my previous PB. Full blog to follow.